Day One:
We set out at about 1pm on Saturday planning on meeting up with Adam and his girlfriend Alanna at Silva Bay. We got out into the bay and hoisted our sails and of course the tide was flooding and the wind was blowing out of the west resulting in an epic beat out to the flat top islands. This was relatively uneventful until the dinghy painter let go and the dinghy shot back drifting wildly in the chop. We affected a sloppy MOB maneuver and after a few passes we hooked the dinghy with the boat pole and dragged it back to the boat. Unfortunately in our sloppy circling of the dinghy the jib became fouled around the forestay. NOTE TO SELF: do not cut corners on a rescue and tack around more slowly. I told Cheryl to drop the jib and we would sort it out. It was grossly fouled. Cheryl had the bright idea to just jibe back the way we came in circles and unfurl the sail. Of course it worked and in 2 minutes we were back on our way. We attached a longer painter onto the dinghy and fastened it better to the boat.
We made it to Valdez and beat up the coast to Breakwater Island and then motor sailed into Silva Bay. There we found Adam and Alanna on their chartered Catalina 27 JOSS. We dropped our anchour and began backing up to set it so we could raft up when I yelled back to Cheryl to make sure the painter on the dinghy was in. Those who know Cheryl know that she does not like to be reminded of the blatantly obvious. She held up the loose bit of painter and said in a snotty voice that she did have it. Exactly as she held up the line the dinghy moved closer to the stern and the second shorter loose painter wrapped around the prop. The line yanked out of Cheryl's hand and the engine died with a loud thud. It was too funny. Adam rescued our dinghy that was now cut free and I ran back to the cockpit. I was ready to dive in the water and clear the line when I realized that I could just pull it off owing to our folding prop. The engine started again fine and we settled into a nice relaxing evening.
Day Two:
This day began with more drama when Adam could not get JOSS into any other gear than reverse. With no options they elected to stay and call the charter company for assistance. I did offer to tow their boat through the pass but even I knew that was not a good idea. We left JOSS and crew at anchour and motored through Gabriola Pass at slack water. On the other side there were light wind and sunny conditions. Cheryl and I cruised lazily along under white sales ducking through Ruxton Pass and making it to Clam Bay between Thetis and Kuper Islands about mid day.
At Clam Bay we tested out Adam’s outboard that he graciously lent us on SPARKLES (our dinghy). After Cheryl figured out how to control the fuel mixture we were set and bombed all over the place setting crab traps, being chased off the reserve on Kuper and visiting the pub on Thetis. When JOSS arrived we went on more dinghy adventures. Having an out board opened up a whole new set of possibilities and is a must for cruising.
Day Three:
We awoke in Clam Bay after a peaceful sleep at anchour rafted up to JOSS. We had a leisurely start to our day trading pancakes for coffee before heading over to Ganges. About mid day with the winds heading down from the North we raised anchour and headed south to Ganges. Of course the winds switched by the time we were ready to hoist our sails. We now faced a strong southerly wind and began beating against wind and current. It was miserable sailing with our 140% up. I had stupidly left the outboard engine on SPARKLES and looked back to see that it had flooded with water and was totally swamped. Sailing as fast as we were with the weight in the dinghy had caused water to back fill into the dinghy.
We heaved to and I brought the dinghy up to the side of the boat. This allowed me to jump into the dinghy and bail it out. This was quite freaky as the boat was making crazy leeway and water was swirling all around me. Getting most of the water out of the dinghy I hopped back in the boat and we executed a sail change down to our 110%. This made the difference and we proceeded with out incident until the end of Wallace Island when we gave up and fired the engine up for an uneventful motor-sail to Ganges. I had a nice sleep on the cockpit floor as Cheryl took over.
Once at Ganges we took a slip at Ganges Marina. For some reason we were way out on the far dock or leper dock. We had a good dinner at the Oyster Catcher and I made my usual impression on the service staff. After a nice bathroom sink bath Cheryl and I headed to bed.
Day Four:
This was another nice rain free day and we left the marina and sailed out of Ganges for the short trip over to Prevost Island. We had decided to stay in Annette Inlet that day and it was a really nice sail with us gently beating all the way up to the mouth of the inlet. JOSS gave chase but there was no way for them to catch the SEA WEASEL piloted by this courageous couple.
Annette Inlet turned out to be a perfect anchourage well protected deep enough for our drafts and packed with wild life. We saw seals, sea lions, bald eagles, deer, cows, and lots of other stuff. With the dinghies we were able to explore on land and even have a beach fire and marsh mellow roast in the evening. The dinghies also allowed us to set the crab traps out in the mouth of the inlet where we succeeded in catching numerous Red Rock Crabs. We only kept two for eating and managed to only catch one Dungness. This Dungness though made up for it. The thing was the size of my head and fed all four of us. We had a serous surf and turf feast that day.
Day Five:
Cheryl had a job interview in Vancouver on Thursday so we decided to motor back to Ganges that day so that she could catch a float plane and fly back. We motored back to the marina and settled in for a relaxed evening. Cheryl was feeling a little sick and spent most of her day preparing for the interview.
Day Six:
Cheryl flew out for her interview and I spent the day sleeping on the boat and doing a few light chores. When she got back I met her with flowers at the dock and we had dinner out. It was a nice evening and we went to bed early.
Day Seven:
Well rested and prepared from the day before we filled up our water and fuel tanks and left the marina first thing in the morning planning on meeting up with JOSS at Wallace Island. Of course we battled current and there was no wind to speak of so it was a longer motor than we expected. Princess Cove on Wallace Island is a great spot but requires you to stern tie. This was the first time Cheryl and I stern tied the SEA WEASEL. Luckily I had purchased 300+ feet of float rope off of craigslist. It came on a spool that made running it out easy. There were rings hanging off the cliff side in the cove that you could feed the line through and back to the boat but it was low tide so the ring was 10 feet up in the air. I busted out some of my Olympic grade mountain climbing techniques and scaled it to get the line fed through and rowed it back to the boat. While it was a little disconcerting being 20 feet from a cliff the stern tying worked really well and JOSS wound up taking up the next ring over.
Princess Cove turned out to be a beautiful spot with much of the island a park it was open for us to walk around and explore. We saw a lot of wild life: eagles, deer, snakes, raccoons, and even weasels! We also came across an abandoned jeep in a field. It turns out that at one point there had been a resort on the island that had been abandoned. Now the cabins have been boarded up except one has been turned into a covered picnic table area. Oddly now everyone hangs decorated driftwood in, on, and around this cabin with their boats names and dates they visited on it. It is actually pretty cool. Next time we go I am thinking about what I will leave behind; after all I got to represent.
Day Eight:
After a awesome day at Wallace Island we cast of our stern tie, hauled up our anchour and motored off to Portlier Pass. This time the tides were in our favour but there was not a breath of wind anywhere so we motored back to Vancouver. With our trip over all I could think of was how I wanted to do it again.
We set out at about 1pm on Saturday planning on meeting up with Adam and his girlfriend Alanna at Silva Bay. We got out into the bay and hoisted our sails and of course the tide was flooding and the wind was blowing out of the west resulting in an epic beat out to the flat top islands. This was relatively uneventful until the dinghy painter let go and the dinghy shot back drifting wildly in the chop. We affected a sloppy MOB maneuver and after a few passes we hooked the dinghy with the boat pole and dragged it back to the boat. Unfortunately in our sloppy circling of the dinghy the jib became fouled around the forestay. NOTE TO SELF: do not cut corners on a rescue and tack around more slowly. I told Cheryl to drop the jib and we would sort it out. It was grossly fouled. Cheryl had the bright idea to just jibe back the way we came in circles and unfurl the sail. Of course it worked and in 2 minutes we were back on our way. We attached a longer painter onto the dinghy and fastened it better to the boat.
We made it to Valdez and beat up the coast to Breakwater Island and then motor sailed into Silva Bay. There we found Adam and Alanna on their chartered Catalina 27 JOSS. We dropped our anchour and began backing up to set it so we could raft up when I yelled back to Cheryl to make sure the painter on the dinghy was in. Those who know Cheryl know that she does not like to be reminded of the blatantly obvious. She held up the loose bit of painter and said in a snotty voice that she did have it. Exactly as she held up the line the dinghy moved closer to the stern and the second shorter loose painter wrapped around the prop. The line yanked out of Cheryl's hand and the engine died with a loud thud. It was too funny. Adam rescued our dinghy that was now cut free and I ran back to the cockpit. I was ready to dive in the water and clear the line when I realized that I could just pull it off owing to our folding prop. The engine started again fine and we settled into a nice relaxing evening.
Day Two:
This day began with more drama when Adam could not get JOSS into any other gear than reverse. With no options they elected to stay and call the charter company for assistance. I did offer to tow their boat through the pass but even I knew that was not a good idea. We left JOSS and crew at anchour and motored through Gabriola Pass at slack water. On the other side there were light wind and sunny conditions. Cheryl and I cruised lazily along under white sales ducking through Ruxton Pass and making it to Clam Bay between Thetis and Kuper Islands about mid day.
At Clam Bay we tested out Adam’s outboard that he graciously lent us on SPARKLES (our dinghy). After Cheryl figured out how to control the fuel mixture we were set and bombed all over the place setting crab traps, being chased off the reserve on Kuper and visiting the pub on Thetis. When JOSS arrived we went on more dinghy adventures. Having an out board opened up a whole new set of possibilities and is a must for cruising.
Day Three:
We awoke in Clam Bay after a peaceful sleep at anchour rafted up to JOSS. We had a leisurely start to our day trading pancakes for coffee before heading over to Ganges. About mid day with the winds heading down from the North we raised anchour and headed south to Ganges. Of course the winds switched by the time we were ready to hoist our sails. We now faced a strong southerly wind and began beating against wind and current. It was miserable sailing with our 140% up. I had stupidly left the outboard engine on SPARKLES and looked back to see that it had flooded with water and was totally swamped. Sailing as fast as we were with the weight in the dinghy had caused water to back fill into the dinghy.
We heaved to and I brought the dinghy up to the side of the boat. This allowed me to jump into the dinghy and bail it out. This was quite freaky as the boat was making crazy leeway and water was swirling all around me. Getting most of the water out of the dinghy I hopped back in the boat and we executed a sail change down to our 110%. This made the difference and we proceeded with out incident until the end of Wallace Island when we gave up and fired the engine up for an uneventful motor-sail to Ganges. I had a nice sleep on the cockpit floor as Cheryl took over.
Once at Ganges we took a slip at Ganges Marina. For some reason we were way out on the far dock or leper dock. We had a good dinner at the Oyster Catcher and I made my usual impression on the service staff. After a nice bathroom sink bath Cheryl and I headed to bed.
Day Four:
This was another nice rain free day and we left the marina and sailed out of Ganges for the short trip over to Prevost Island. We had decided to stay in Annette Inlet that day and it was a really nice sail with us gently beating all the way up to the mouth of the inlet. JOSS gave chase but there was no way for them to catch the SEA WEASEL piloted by this courageous couple.
Annette Inlet turned out to be a perfect anchourage well protected deep enough for our drafts and packed with wild life. We saw seals, sea lions, bald eagles, deer, cows, and lots of other stuff. With the dinghies we were able to explore on land and even have a beach fire and marsh mellow roast in the evening. The dinghies also allowed us to set the crab traps out in the mouth of the inlet where we succeeded in catching numerous Red Rock Crabs. We only kept two for eating and managed to only catch one Dungness. This Dungness though made up for it. The thing was the size of my head and fed all four of us. We had a serous surf and turf feast that day.
Day Five:
Cheryl had a job interview in Vancouver on Thursday so we decided to motor back to Ganges that day so that she could catch a float plane and fly back. We motored back to the marina and settled in for a relaxed evening. Cheryl was feeling a little sick and spent most of her day preparing for the interview.
Day Six:
Cheryl flew out for her interview and I spent the day sleeping on the boat and doing a few light chores. When she got back I met her with flowers at the dock and we had dinner out. It was a nice evening and we went to bed early.
Day Seven:
Well rested and prepared from the day before we filled up our water and fuel tanks and left the marina first thing in the morning planning on meeting up with JOSS at Wallace Island. Of course we battled current and there was no wind to speak of so it was a longer motor than we expected. Princess Cove on Wallace Island is a great spot but requires you to stern tie. This was the first time Cheryl and I stern tied the SEA WEASEL. Luckily I had purchased 300+ feet of float rope off of craigslist. It came on a spool that made running it out easy. There were rings hanging off the cliff side in the cove that you could feed the line through and back to the boat but it was low tide so the ring was 10 feet up in the air. I busted out some of my Olympic grade mountain climbing techniques and scaled it to get the line fed through and rowed it back to the boat. While it was a little disconcerting being 20 feet from a cliff the stern tying worked really well and JOSS wound up taking up the next ring over.
Princess Cove turned out to be a beautiful spot with much of the island a park it was open for us to walk around and explore. We saw a lot of wild life: eagles, deer, snakes, raccoons, and even weasels! We also came across an abandoned jeep in a field. It turns out that at one point there had been a resort on the island that had been abandoned. Now the cabins have been boarded up except one has been turned into a covered picnic table area. Oddly now everyone hangs decorated driftwood in, on, and around this cabin with their boats names and dates they visited on it. It is actually pretty cool. Next time we go I am thinking about what I will leave behind; after all I got to represent.
Day Eight:
After a awesome day at Wallace Island we cast of our stern tie, hauled up our anchour and motored off to Portlier Pass. This time the tides were in our favour but there was not a breath of wind anywhere so we motored back to Vancouver. With our trip over all I could think of was how I wanted to do it again.
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