July Showers Too

They plan was supposed to be another raft up with the Family Yacht Club at Roche Habor. But, we had some issues that didn't allow us to leave Fort Collins until Friday. So we loaded up the Cruiser with cats, clothes and all of the things you might need for a week of cruising and headed off to west coast. Now for some reason, it was extra windy driving across Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Seattle. For two days we battled unseasonably strong winds driving across the plains. Man, I was just plain beat up.

Finally we managed to hit the Bainbridge ferry at 7:30 ish. We decided to go ahead and eat in Bainbridge since everything around Port Ludlow would be closed (Everything being the one place to eat in Port Ludlow). So we headed down to docks and had a nice little dinner. We even saw Lizbeth and Dave. After finishing up, we had the big drive to Port Ludlow. Somehow we managed to make it there by about midnight. By this time we where pretty much tired.

On Sunday, we headed back to Bainbridge and met Dave and Lizbeth on Bainbridge for their 3rd of July celebration. We were going to wait and watch fireworks at Port Ludlow, but we were just too tired. So we scooted back, exhausted again!

The Monday plan was supposed to be a trip to Lake Union to see Eric's new boat, but gravity really set in. I ended up finishing the splice on some double-braid dock lines that I had started working on at home and just hanging out in the sunshine. Meanwhile, we ended up meeting another couple that had a big ole boat moored near ours. The lake Union trip was really starting to look like a drag, so we ended up bailing on that gig and headed up to Port Townsend to watch Fireworks at Fort Worden. We ended up getting a nice spot on the beach near Point Hudson. It was a good show and not crowded. I think we had something like 30 people on the beach. A real nice gig!

Now I was feeling good and rested, so the next day I decided to replace my starter with my spare. The old starter had been really bothering me, since the solenoid kept on getting jammed, causing the motor to not start at the worst possible times. So I pull out all of the crap in the aft berth and notice a little bit of water below the water heater. Uh oh. It turns out the heater was leaking. Crap. I decided to ignore that for a bit and replaced the old starter. This wasn't too bad and the new one cranked right up. Meanwhile, I also ended up changing the oil and replacing all of the fuel filters. At least the motor was good and happy. The water heater, I just ignored for another day and eventually pulled it out. That was a really big friggin. mess. So for now, we have no hot water and probably won't until I decide what to replace it with.

5/13/2010 Note -
I eventually replaced the water heater with an Isotherm model. It looks like it is built quite well. The only issue is that it has an anti-scald device that makes the water colder than I would like. I think this has to do more with my lack of water pressure than anything else.

May Flowers

So for grins we decide to head out to California first. I have a meeting on Monday with a VC in Colorado and then another one on Wednesday with a VC in San Hoser. Kathy decides to drive out early to California with the cats while I do my Colorado meeting. After the meeting on Monday, I head to the airport only to be greeted by several thunderstorms. Seems like the airplanes all got diverted to Colorado Springs and my flight was effectively canceled. But wait, somehow I managed to get rerouted and I have a new direct flight to Reno (where Kathy is waiting for me). So I manage to make it into Reno kind of late, but at least I made it. The next day, we scoot on down to San Francisco to stay at a friends house. I have my meeting on Wednesday and then head up to San Francisco to meet my bud Tracy for some general touring and dinner. The next day, Kathy and I head north and stop in Oregon for the night. The next day we head out and battle through some of the Memorial Day traffic.

Okay, so we arrive late on Friday afternoon with all intentions of just hanging at Bainbridge for the next couple of days. The first thing I got to do was replace the gaskets in the head, since the head was completely dysfunctional. This mostly worked, but the whole thing leaked a bit. But, Saturday morning was so nice that we decided to join up with the Family Yacht club's memorial day raft-up. David and Lizbeth from the Platypus joined us for a leisurely sail to Agate passage. Afterward we started the old motor and headed into Eagle Harbor. The trip was mostly uneventful except for a near miss with a pylon in the middle of Agate passage ... oops.

The next two nights we rafted up with five other boats and had a tasty potluck. A couple of us ended up shooting the crap and possibly drinking too much until about 4 in the morning. Needless to say, the next day we spent seriously lazing about the cockpit. That evening we headed to shore for a big Italian feast with the whole crew.

Now, we had been talking with the folks up at the Port Ludlow marina about moving our boat there. Finally, after much chatting, Kathy convinced them that we should be there, so on Monday we motored and sailed up to Port Ludlow and put Kalliope in her new home.

Now that was a pretty damn nice weekend.

Port Ludlow is a very pretty place, but duller than warm toast with no jam.

Okay, damn it. The head is still screwed up. And look a new head is only $120. So I decided to go and just replace the damn thing. This should be easy, but of course it isn't. After taking the head out, I noticed that the plywood that the head was attached too was a bit rotten. So I pulled the whole thing out dried it out and repainted it. But since I was painting that, I decided to update the paint on the boat hook. And why not repaint my spare starter since it had some rust on it. So this project knocked out a whole day or so. I'm thinking that maintaining a boat part time from Colorado is going to be a real pain.

After that it just started to rain. I'm just not sure I'm a very good NW person

Nothing like a good working vacation.

April Showers

The boat is still in Bainbridge and I have been working way too much lately; however, we finally did manage to get out to Seattle for a couple of days. We found a couple of cheapo flights on Alaska air and hit the sky.

The weather on Saturday was blowing pretty hard from the south and we ended up taking Nelly Bly out in some 20+ kt winds from Port Ludlow down south to Point No Point. It was an all guys trip (except for the couple that we picked up on the dock). It was pretty much bash and go the whole way. A pretty good sail.

The next day, things mellowed out and we took Kalliope out from Port Townsend towards Seattle and finally over to Blake Island. BJ and Tricia crewed with us and we had a nice leisurely sail. The sun even managed to poke out on the way back.

The next couple of days we ended up checking out a bunch of Seattle finest dining establishments. Yum, Yum.

Why is it that I want to work my ass off at a startup? Explain that to me again.

Christmas Parade

Well we finally managed to get the boat down to Bainbridge and all tied up. We hung out for a couple of weeks working on projects and such. At the end of October we loaded up the truck, cats, and a ton of gear and headed back to Fort Collins.

In November we traveled back east to visit family. Kathy visited her mom in Greensboro and I visited my sister and mother. After that we met some friends in Disneyland for a couple of days.

In December we finally made it back to Bainbridge for some much needed boat visiting. We arrived just in time for the Eagle Harbor parade. Complete with caroling boats, lights and the whole nine yards. We didn't arrive early enough for Kalliope to participate, but we did manage to hang out on Nelli Bly during the evening. The next day Phillipe and I took a sail (mostly motor) around Blake Island. It was really a nice day, pretty warm with no rain at all (of course the next day it blew like stink!).

Going Back South

Sailing South at 6.5 kts in Johnstone

Late night anchoring in Montague Harbor

Alert Bay

Graveyard at Alert Bay

Turnbull Cove

Did I mention that we saw bears again? Crazy but true

Sullivan Bay

Sullivan Bay Sign Post

Shawl Bay

There is a story that takes place here. It involves Capn' Clyde and a host of unsavory characters. Buy me a beer sometime and I will tell you. No way is it getting posted.

Greenway Sound

Corduroy Logging Road Near Greenway Sound

Lagoon Cove

Weighing anchor after a quiet evening and leisurely morning in Matilpi Cove, we headed to Lagoon Cove via Chatham Narrows and the Blow Hole. Lagoon Cove is suppose to have Internet connection. We are trying to stay in touch with our dear friend Lyn Hunt (his love of his life had just passed away) and I am trying to make arrangements to fly back to Colorado to visit with him. While waiting for slack water to get through Chatham Narrows, Andy headed Kalliope up Call Inlet to look for bears. I noticed that we actually had digital cell phone service (we get service in the weirdest areas - we think it has something to do with the logging camps & fish camps). I made some calls while Andy circled around the small hot spot of cell service.
Our window of opportunity for negotiating Chatham Narrows had come and we had to leave or wait for the next low tide. So I said my goodbyes and
we began heading for the exact coordinates to negotiate the channel. The channel is very tight, long and shallow. My job was to keep an astern sight for the range marker and keep Kalliope lined up on the range sighting until it falls away from sight and the forward range marker comes into sight and then keep Kalliope lined up with the forward range marker. We made it through the channel and it was tight, long, and shallow. As we made our way along the upper reaches of Chatham Channel, we spotted a bear on the northern shore turning big rocks over as easily as I might turnover a pillow. He was probably looking for some lunch that might be lurking under the boulders. This is when I wish we would have we have a zoom looms. We did try to take some pictures.

Lagoon Cove

Our destination is moorage at Lagoon Cove Marina. After coming through the Blow Hole, I radioed Lagoon and was confirmed moorage for our sailing vessel. Little did we know how tightly Bill (the proprietor and wharfinger) could pack in the boats. We came in on a port tie. Andy had a tight u-turn to make in between the two dock fingers but he brought her around and Bill and his assistant ________ were there to receive lines.
LAGOON COVE
A quirky, rustic place with a lot of personality. Shore power is available 7 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 10:30 pm. Water, boil before you use. I am glad that we filled our tanks with Blind Channel's sweet water. One shower sharing the room with a flushing toilet - I think the head and shower on Kalliope is bigger - definitely not as rustic. The emporium is filled with heavy fleece sweaters & jackets sized xxl and xxxl, a choice of 2 post cards. The store has some oil (which we should have bought since it turned out to be our last chance to purchase any), baits & lures, cold pop & candy bars. Diesel, gas, & propane are available. Well, well, well. And it was cloudy & trying rain to boot. Internet facilities, I had to laugh (a picture is worth a thousand words in this case).

So after our short and quick walk about we returned to the boat. Bill had told us that happy hour was at 5 pm at the "historic workshop" - bring an appetizer to share. So we were a hanging about the boat when this huge motor boat comes in for moorage. Bill decides to put the Christi Lynn behind us at the dock at a right angle. Well, here she comes with her bowsprit and anchor towering above bimini and she is heading right for our stern. She misses our wind vane by less than an inch. Her bow is touching the dock that we are tied to. Let's hope no one throws a wake, because it would cause quite a tangle of boats, docks and rigging. Billy, the cap'n of the Christi Lynn comes down from his flying bridge to check to see just where everything is laying. I don't think he realized just how close he came to Kalliope until he saw for himself. I took a picture of him resting his hands on our solar panels. (See the photo for proof). We moved Kalliope forward, moved the Christi Lynn back some. We now have a good six inches or so between our boats. Since we are such close neighbors, we thought the best thing to do is to meet for drinks after the happy hour in the crab shed.
Happy Hour at Lagoon Cove
Before Happy Hour we start meeting up with folks that we met at Blind Channel, Cree & Joe from SV MooseNose, Bert and Jan from the MV Berjango, and last but not least Marilyn and Alan and Peppi from the MV Top Dawg.
Andy also figured out how to catch prawns. About damn time!

Johnstone Strait and Matilpi

The day started out a bit foggy and pretty light on the winds. The previous night we picked out a couple of spots to bail just in case the weather got crappy. Mostly we had good luck, and didn't have to use any of them. We hit the rapids at Johnstone just right and managed to make about 10 kts over the bottom for about an hour. We even surfed through some big standing waves as we moved north. It isn't that scary when the wind isn't frothing. That night we anchored at Matilpi (or Indian Islands). We had the place all to ourselves and enjoyed exploring the white shell beach. We were a little bit nervous since our charts and GPS didn't seem to agree well. Just for kicks, I took the GPS to a couple of the exposed rocks and compared them to the chart. Not surprisingly, they were off by about 30' Of course that made me nervous since a rock was supposed to be awash and within our swing if the wind shifted on us. So as an added bonus I took the lead line out and did some impromptu sounding. I never could find the awash rock. So much for charts. It is a wonder that we haven't run into more rocks!

Entering Johnstone

The Anchorage and Beach at Matilpi (Indian Islands)

Andy and Bruno Going for a Row at Matilpi

Blind Channel - take two

We always like Blind Channel. They have a really nice marina and really great food. This year we stayed for three days and just relaxed and enjoyed the surroundings. We me quite a few different folks here. One of the employees had a kayak and let me use it on the reversing rapids. It was good to get out on the water. In the evening, they would have a little jazz combo going and sometime one of the waitresses would belt out a song or two. She was pretty damn good. Blind Channel is also the jumping off point for going north. Beyond it lies the slightly ominous Johnstone Straits. The winds really whip down through these straights from the north. It had been blowing about 40 kts for the previous week, but relief was supposedly in sight. Since this is a big jumping off point, you will meet all kinds of folks sitting about waiting for the weather. Of course everyone tries to talk you in heading north. Originally, Kathy and I planned on staying south and spending more time exploring the Gulf Islands. But the weather gods where extremely cooperative, so we decided to head up north into the Bush.

Kalliope at Blind Channel - Another Rainy Day -)

This woman rowed all of the way from Alaska! Kathy, don't complain about the size of our boat!

Shoal Bay

We kept on thinking that we were just going to cruise for an hour or two and set up anchor, but the weather and the tides favored us so we hauled all of the way up to Shoal Bay. This is a great spot to stop for the views. The pub's menu is pretty basic: Hamburger's and beer. But what else do you need? We ran into one of the dock boys that was working over at Blind Channel from the previous year. It was cool to start seeing some of the same people. The dock was full when we got there so we anchored on the east side of the bay. The wind kicked up that night and scooted us all over the place. I don't think either of us got any sleep.

Toba Inlet

Kalliope Anchoring in Shoal Bay

Pendrell Sound

Monday
Sometimes I think power boaters as a general class are some of the most insensitive and rude people. Now not to offend all of the wonderful power boats that we met this summer, but I imagine the majority of power boaters are just fine, but a couple of slime balls ruin it for everyone. Pendrell Sound is a good example. The head of this bay is incredibly warm and used by oyster growers to produce starter oysters. At the entrance there are incredibly large signs that ask for a 4 kt maximum speed and every guidebook makes mention of it. So what do we have, a couple of the larger power boats have ski boat tenders and end up using the Pendrell Sound as their personal playground. Of course this throws up a tremendous wake and make an incredible amount of noise in an otherwise very peaceful setting.

But ya know, despite this, Pendrell Sound is gorgeous and should not be missed. I ended up having a really nice swim, the water temperature was about 74 degrees. Not too bad for a hot day.

Isabel Bay

After we dropped the parents off, we headed back to Desolation Sound and down to Isabell Cove. It felt weird to backtrack the same section of water for a fourth time in just a couple of weeks (Parent Tour - twice, Desolation Sound Bound). But we managed to get a bit of sailing in and met up again with our friends Bob and Dianne from the White Swan. It was Dianne's birthday and we had a date at the Laughing Oyster near Lund. Now you might think that Isabella cove is a nice place to anchor and that motoring over to the Laughing Oyster might make for a fun evening, and you might even be right if the wind wasn't blowing like a mother kicking up a huge chop. Suffice it to say, everyone was pretty well beat up by the time we hit the restaurant. However, the company and food were good and we had a great time. When we finally headed back from dinner, the wind had died down and we had a nice twilight ride back to the boat.
Isabel Bay is probably one of the nicest anchorages in Desolation Sound. It is relatively uncrowded and slightly off the beaten path -- shhh, don't tell anyone!

Anchorage with a View!

Bob and Dianne at the Laughing Oyster

Parent Tour

My parents came out for a quick sail. We picked them up at Harriot bay, sailed over to Manson bay for the sunsets! The next day we did a quick loop around Despoliation sound. The view was a bit hazy because of forest fires, but the sailing was good. We then hi-tailed it back to Gorge harbor. Gorge and Manson are only a mile apart, but we ended up sailing something like 30 miles that day. Whew! The next morning we work up nice and early and motored them over to the Cortes Island ferry. They had to do a little scrambling to get to the ferry (since the boat docks and the ferry terminal are on the opposite side of the harbor!), but they made it okay and got a nice photo of us taking off.

Manson Sunset

Whaletown Departure - A rare underway photo!

Harriot Bay

We stopped at Surge Narrows on the way south. The wind was really cranking from the North that day. It made for a might fine sail.

Surge Narrows store - Notice the vote turnout (39 total!)

That night we had an adventuresome dock at Harriot Bay marina. It was blowing about 20 kts on the beam and we had to thread our way through a couple of boats. Ye hah. We made it without a scratch, so everything was good. Dave and Lisa left the next day and headed back to Colorado. We then had a scant 24 hours to get ready for my parents.

Octopus Bay

Thursday
Well today is an absolutely gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky (and not much wind either).
This is a great place to hang out. We hiked up to the lake, and built fun sculptures at the cabin.

Working on the Staysail - Kalliope and White Swan Rafted Up

Bob, Diane, Lisa & Dave working on our art.

Kalliope's Memo (click for Larger)

The White Swan Mermaid on Kalliope's Bench

Shooting the Gorge

Tuesday

Last night the wind kept blowing, so our sleep was kind of crappy, so I decided to head over to Gorge Harbor for a little better protection and a non-stern anchor. We waited for about an hour or two before high tide so that we could get out of the harbor. I think we had about 4' under the keel when we left. Desolation sound was pretty flat and windless but finally we poked our head out into the northern edge of the Georgia straits and we had quite a rousing SE with winds somewhere around 20 kts. We quickly set sail and headed West. The cold front that had been moving through the area could be plainly seen about 10 miles in front of us over Campbell River. It looked like this huge wall of water. We just kept on crossing our fingers hoping that we would be able to anchor before it hit us. As we rounded Sutil point we headed North while the front seemed to be moving mostly South. Somehow we managed to make it into Gorge before the rain hit, and we dropped down a ton of chain in the NW corner of the harbor. The wind was still funneling out of the SE, but I figure that it would change quickly.

We dingied over to the Gorge Harbor marina for a little shopping and to dump garbage (They don't actually do this anymore :-(, but we ended up buying so many groceries and such that they took our 1 bag!).

That night we had dinner at the restraint (pretty darn good!) and saw White Swan anchoring out in the bay. They managed to get caught by the leading edge of the front and got a bit hammered out there in the Straits. That night we dingied Dave and Lisa over to the White Swan for some cocktails ...

Lisa After Finishing the "Frog"

Wednesday

The next morning we headed over to Von Donop Inlet with White Swan. Not much in the way of wind, but we did get to go around Shark Spit point which is always challenging.

Kalliope Rounding Sharkspit Point

That night we rafted up at the very southern end of Von Donop Inlet. Dave and I managed to hike a bit towards Squirrel cove and managed to run into a deer, but luckily no bears. We had been hoping for a swim but the head of the inlet was swimming with Jelly Fish, so we decided to pass.