Gulf Islands Trip Pt.1 - The Crossing

Now that was fun. My skipper is turning out just as I had hoped. But I still had a trick or two to keep him humble and in line- Corleto

The day had finally come. The provisions had been loaded and the fuel tanks had been topped off. I could hardly wait to cast off and set a rendezvous course with the sailing vessel Tarka. The planned crossing of the Straight of Georgia to Silva Bay was now upon me and I was as giddy as a school girl in anticipation of the voyage.

Giddy as a school girl- happy to be on our way.

The plan was to leave Corleto's berth at 08:00, but a glitch when I checked the oil level before firing the engine delayed the departure. Then a second glitch. The Chart Plotter would not turn on. I quickly checked to make sure I was plugged in. I was, so no power to this 12v outlet that is just inside the companion way was indeed a problem. I quickly rerouted the power cable to a second socket that is located forward. It worked. So crisis avoided for the time being. The Chart Plotter fired up and a short time later Corleto was slipping her lines and making her way to the rendezvous area that Hank, Tarka's skipper, had chosen.

Corleto's crew- Charlene sitting at her favourite perch- Tarka in the background

Once we had established contact on the VHF and maneuvered to a close proximity, sails were set and we were off.
It wasn't long before Charlene noticed Hank reducing sail as we rounded the tip of Bowen Island. A brisk 18kn wind was waiting. This was the very first time since owning Corleto that I had reefed the main. I gotta thank my man Aaron for showing me how to rig and execute a reef while under sail. We pressed on, hitting our waypoints and making good speed toward Silva Bay.
Charlene took the helm for a period and boasts the speed record for the crossing at 5.8 knots towing the dingy. I thought that was very impressive.

Charlene at the helm, I know we were going fast.

The seas built as we crossed and Tarka was always nearby, usually ahead, but every once in a while Corleto would gain speed and catch up. We were in no particular hurry, we were on vacation. We did see two pacific white sided Dolphin on the crossing, just off the port bow, between Corleto and Tarka.

Tarka and her crew- Hank on the helm and Caroline on watch

But as with any sea journey there often is a period of adjustment. Call it getting one's sea legs. Charlene was trying to get her's and as fate would have it the increasing winds and waves did not help.
There came a time when she looked at me and said "Can we just get there, Please." Fortunately we were only some 3 NM from Thrasher Rock.
She did tell me that she wasn't going to be able to go up front and douse the jib. So that meant I would just have good ol' Otto on the tiller and do it myself.

With the sails down and the diesel running I steered Corleto toward the entrance into Silva Bay. I Followed Hank in and a short time later we were tied up at the Silva Bay Marina. Charlene and I had just completed our third crossing. This one under sail. There were smiles all around. And this was just the beginning.

Safe and Sound in Silva Bay

Farewells and Good Bye's

Sailing has given me much joy over the past year or so. It has also introduced me to some remarkable people. Those introductions have developed into friendships.

The first person that we got to know when we came to our slip last year was a fellow named Aaron. He was at that time, the owner and the skipper of a racy boat called Serenity Now. Serenity was moored in the slip next to us. Aaron was very welcoming and unbelievably helpful. His knowledge of all things mechanical and his willingness to lend a hand when you need it most, and his gentle personality, make him tops by any measure.

Aaron introduced us to some others around the Marina. There was Hank and Caroline, owners of the sleek blue beauty named Tarka, and veteran coastal cruisers Richard and Pat of the sailing vessel Habu.

Every trip to the marina is always much more complete if we run into any of all of these fine folks. They have all become our sailing family.

June is aways a month of preparing for the summer cruising season, with last minute projects, or cleaning, provisioning and planning. This June however was a bit different as we prepared ourselves to bid farewell to the sailing family's original member, Aaron. He and his friendly sea dog Kia are relocating to Vancouver Island and although we are happy for Aaron and his new beginnings, we all are selfishly sorry to see him move on.

The occasion had lots of wonderful conversation and FOOD!

Before his move, the "family" got together for a farewell pot luck at the dock. The food and conversation were wonderful and we all agreed that we should have done this sooner. It wasn't a week later that Aaron was on his way to his new home port, Campbell River. The dock here in Horseshoe Bay just won't be the same without him.

Charlene and The man of the hour- Aaron

Pat hands out the Desert.

Not long after Aaron cast off, Richard and Pat slowly and surely piloted Habu from her slip. They go away for two months or more sailing north to the quiet bays and rugged north central coast. Again the marina is just not the same when you look over and see Pat and Richard's slip empty.

Habu, making her final departure preps.

We look forward to leaving ourselves shortly. Corleto is going to join Tarka and her crew as we passage to the Gulf Islands very soon. I am sure when we all get back together for the next dock pot luck, there will be many new and great adventures for us all to share. But until then it's farewell and good bye,,,, for now.

Charlene and Corleto, ready to go.

The Angelic Pump

One of the things that has been on my famous "shit list" has been getting the pressurized water working on Corleto. It has plagued me since I bought her 15 months ago.

The first problem was discovered when I filled her water tanks and then engaged the pump and opened the wrong faucet knob. The next thing I knew I had water coming into the drawers below the faucet.

I had quickly discovered that the faucet was a standard bathroom fixture you could find at any hardware store and that it had not one but two supply hose housings. One for hot, one for cold. The hot side was not hooked up so when I opened the cold side, the water ran out the hot side and made a mess.

The simple fix for this was to replace it with a single supply faucet. But as time went on, that replacement fell lower and lower on the "shit list" of things to be done.

Fast forward to last fall and my good friend Kinc- ( the fellow who helped bring Corleto home), and I were going to join a larger group of boats on a long weekend of sailing. Kinc had asked me about the pressurized water system and the faucet that he had disassembled.

Feeling bad I suppose, or more likely feeling pity for Corleto's rookie skipper, he went and found a single supply faucet and gifted it to Corleto and her crew. The possibility of pressurized fresh water was now within our grasp. Kinc dutifully removed the old and replaced it with the new adding a nice piece of stainless to cover the old holes. He hooked up the water and gave word to turn on the fresh water pump.

The new piece of hardware worked like a dream. But wait, whats that sound? It sounds like leaking high pressure water. Kinc closes the faucet. Its still hissing. What can that be?
I quickly check on the pump under the starboard side seat. The water is streaming out of the bottom of the pump. Turning the pump off stops the flow. Now it looks like the pump is the problem. I take a picture of it and study the photo. It appears to be cracked at the bottom.

As it turns out, the event that led to the crack was made back in Bellingham when I took possession. I filled the fresh water tanks.
You see, it being FEBRUARY and oh I don't know, it being WINTER. That coupled with the fact I must have been day dreaming about faraway sunny places, I forgot that water freezes in February. That is what cracked the pump.

The crack at the bottom- ice- who knew?

So fast forward to pretty much anytime I was into a Marine shop looking for a Flojet model xxx-xxx water pump. I would often find Flojets on the shelves, but never the right model number. That was until just a couple of weeks ago, when I went into the store to look for a hand held VHF radio and I strayed into the pump isle. And there it was, a shaft of angelic light shinning on the box of a FloJet 4405-143. I didn't even look at the price, I just picked it up and headed for the cash. Running pressurized water would soon be a reality.

Install day was now upon me and I was very excited to finally scratch this off the "list". I was able to quickly remove the old pump and use some of those fancy wiring skills that I learned at my engine course from last season. This all took about a half hour and I was ready to engage the pump.

The new FloJet

And just like that, I had running fresh water. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. My confidence was boundless. I had a filter from last season still in the package. I thought, why not get that installed while I have everything exposed. What could possibly go wrong?

I cut the supply line between the water tank and the new pump. Added a couple of clamps and began to put it all back together.

What's this? This hose does not seem to fit over the intake barbs. Fuckkkkkkkkk.
I fumbled with it for several minutes and then remembered the sage advice from my boating Yoda- Richard. Always heat up the ends gently and that will help in a tight fit. I went for the heat gun, set it to stun (low) and gently heated the end of the hose.

The filter

IT FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Victory was MINE!

Pressurized WATER!

Instinct

"I feel like a princess of the water once again. A winter of sitting at the dock I needed a day of dancing on the waves and a good clean. My little buoy toy Skipper, sure knows how to treat a lady." -Corleto

There's nothing like getting out on the water. After a winter season that did not allow any reasonable time for sail, it really was the first order of business as winter transitioned into spring. My work schedule sometimes allowed me to have days off during the week and mid April provided with just such an occasion. Yet that "Shit List" beckoned.

We arrived on the dock one sunny day with nice brisk winds in the forecast. One look at poor Corleto's deck covered with that green goop that builds up over the rainy season, and I felt obligated to clean the deck. But with perfect wind out there, it was Charlene that looked at me and said "Screw it! You can clean anytime."
Winds like this almost never happen when we have the time to sail. And with that Charlene and I cast off and took Corleto out for her exercise. 

We headed for English Bay with full sails and smiles on our faces. It was just wonderful to feel the water through the tiller as we sliced our way through the chop. It was bliss.

Good wind and full sails

One of our best speeds of the day- 6.1 kts under sail

Yet, some of the old issues that caused us problems last season, reared their ugly heads, like bowline knots that would come loose at the most inconvenient time. Funny thing about that, but on this particular afternoon almost at the very same place where we had a near catastrophic incident a year before, a bowline failure on the windward sheet would haunt us yet again- just off Point Atkinson.

Point Atkinson- Corleto's "Newman"

With the wind blowing us at a good speed, but tide and leeway pushing us toward the point, I knew I would have to tack to starboard to avoid disaster. Charlene noticed that the bowline had come loose on the lazy sheet and I knew I would have to go forward to fix the issue. I engaged Otto the auto pilot and made my way forward. The wind had changed slightly. That, coupled with Otto's course, began to push us ever closer to the point.

Seeing that the boat was not happy and knowing that with brisk winds disaster would soon be upon us, Charlene instinctively took the helm and calmly steered the boat ever so gently into the wind. The luffing head sail falling right into my hands. She did this without direction from me and relied solely on her "feel" for the boat. In a heartbeat I had the sheet reattached and Charlene tacked the boat onto a new course giving us the needed separation from Point Atkinson. It was a moment that defined Charlene's confidence at the helm and one that showed us just how far we had come as a crew since our last "flirting with disaster" encounter.

We can hardly wait to get back out there.

Confident and Happy Crew

RACE!

There has been a whole lot of change and upheaval in the past several weeks. What with packing up and moving Chez Murman from the burbs to the downtown and various developments at the office, my mind, body and soul needed to be on the water. Thinking the earliest this could happen was still weeks away as there was still much to be done to my old condo.

But then on Thursday morning before work, the sound of an incoming text message startled me from my weary state. It was Aaron, skipper of the sailing vessel Rosa Maria and slip neighbour. He was inviting me on rather short notice to join him for the annual West Van YC Stag Race. He had been invited by WVYC member and skipper of the Tarka - Hank.

Next thing you know its Saturday and we are headed to the start line with winds of 15- 20 with gusts of 25 in the forecast.

Skipper Aaron of the Rosa Maria

Sailing with Aaron was something I was hoping to do someday. He usually sails Rosa single handed and he has incorporated some very clever ideas to sail with such ease his 30 foot Catalina. I looked at this weekend as a chance to meet with new sailors at the finish, to learn from Aaron and perhaps gain some experience in good winds. The weekend accomplished all of that and then some.

Aaron had decided to have me on the helm as we went to the start line as he was really looking forward to sail trim and grinding away at his winches. It took me some time to get used to Rosa and how she handled. She has a wheel not a tiller.

Aaron would say "Bring her 10º to Port"
I would begin to turn the wheel.
Aaron would then say "Your other Port"

Then I realized that I was instinctively reacting to a turn as if I was on a tiller! I found that odd since I did learn to sail on a large boat with a wheel! I know that back in Horseshoe Bay, Corleto was having a chuckle. It had taken me a few sails to get used to her tiller.

Its a wheel, not a tiller!

With great wind coming over Rosa's starboard, we crossed the start line on a very nice beam reach with speed. We shot to the head of the fleet but it was short lived as those boats behind us including Hank's Tarka, were reeling us in.



Aaron made a skippers decision to alter coarse to potentially avoid a ferry, and the course change took us off our primary beam reach and slowed us a bit before reaching Cape Roger Curtis.  We made the Starboard turn into the Collingwood Channel. The winds were gusty there in places and with me on the helm and poor ol' Aaron trimming and grinding, reefing and shaking, we managed to keep decent speed.

Trimming Sails

The rest of the fleet brought out their Spinnys and before we knew it we had faster lighter boats overtaking to our Starboard. Rosa Maria is a girl without a spinnaker. No matter we sailed on.

OH, OH! Spinnakers!

Spinnaker boat overtaking

We watched Tarka wrestle with her kite as it seemed to take that perfect hourglass shape of "oh crap". Hank got it figured out and doused it just moments before the wind changed direction and increased. Broach averted for Tarka.  We all laughed about it as Hank retold the story at the finish over a well deserved and chilled tall glass of what sailors live for.

Tarka on the move

It was a great sail and a wonderful day to be on the water. I had watched Aaron reef the main on the fly and then shake it minutes later. I know I will apply that experience to my own boat. I finally understood why sometimes less sail equals more speed and control.

Tied up at Elliot Bay

As we approached Elliot Bay, an out station for the West Van Yacht Club, we called in our time and began to prepare to lower our sails. When it was done, and we were tied up, you could not wipe the smiles off many of the faces of all who took part. It wasn't what position our boat finished that mattered. It was the fact we had averaged 5.5 to 6 knots for the whole afternoon and how much fun each of us had with full sails.

Crew of the Rosa Maria- WVYC Stag Race 2014

It was good for the soul.

The Wonder Tool

The rain had just begun to fall as I arrived at the dock yesterday. This was a day where it was just me and Corleto. After the roller coaster week I just had, I was looking forward to some quiet time with only me and my boat.

I was also kind of excited, for I was packing with me, my new wonder tool.  I had been coveting one for sometime. When I drew up the "Shit List" there was more than one of those wretched tasks that would require this miracle device. It has been described by many of my boating friends as a "must have". Of course I am speaking of my new Dremel.

I unlocked Corleto's companionway with the excitement of a youngster on Christmas morning. I was giddy with anticipation of plugging it into the outlet and hearing that wondrous purr of 15K+ RPMs. I needed to cut or grind something, but what?

The list beckoned.

I could see that the one thing that really needed my immediate attention was the port side chain plate. There was so much leakage it had to be done. So began my first attempt at re bedding.

The port side cabin Plate- water had been getting in.

The nut that held the thru hull bolt came off without too much effort. A good sign. The plate came off with a little coaxing. I observed a steady drip after the plate was removed. I tapped the bolt to unseat it. Then I scurried topside to disconnect it from the shroud and clean the deck depression that the assembly had made over time. Now I truly had a hole though my deck and since it was raining, water had no trouble finding its way into the cabin. I plugged and covered the bolt hole with a piece of duct tape and took the parts below for inspection and cleaning.

With the plate and bolt removed- you can see daylight. The surfaces needed a good cleaning

You can see the corrosion and the crud on all for the surfaces of the chain plate assembly

The Stainless parts showed some minor corrosion and the threads of the bolt were filled with old caulking. The plate itself had water corrosion and needed to be cleaned up.
I soaked the bolt, washer and nut in some Lacquer thinner. I then took a brass tooth brush and used the thinner on the plate. The thinner seemed to loosen the rust and other crud on all the surfaces.

Wonder Tool to the rescue

Then I used that magic tool to remove the rest of the dirt and rust from the surfaces with the metal brush attachment. It made the job very easy.

After everything had been cleaned, as close to original as possible, it was time to put it all back together.

You can see the difference the Dremel brush made on the top of the bolt. 

I had decided to use Butyl tape as the re bedding seal. It had been recommended by many. I applied it to the thru bolt, and the washer. When the bolt and nut were tightened, the butyl would squeeze into the tiny places that water seems to find. The beauty of butyl is it keeps it's malleable characteristics and is easy to remove when the time comes.

You can see the butyl tape applied on the washer and the thru bolt.

A re installed, re bedded and re polished plate

It was a bit of a challenge getting the parts back together with just me and no one to keep the bolt seated topside. After some trial and error, I grabbed my spare car battery and placed it on top of the bolt. That worked.

The re bedded, resealed and re seated thru bolt and washer assembly as seen topside.

It sure was nice to finish up and in doing so scratch one thing off the list. Total time for the job was just under 3 hours. No bad for my first attempt. And when I left Corleto, she was dry on the inside and I had a big smile on the outside.

The Shit List

"Where the hell have you been young skipper? 
Have you forgotten me already?" - Corleto

This has been a long hiatus from the boat. I guess I'm one of those fair weather fools perhaps. Time has been short this winter season and what time I have had has been spent on the ski slopes with my visiting brother. Weather has been less than ideal I suppose, but with the sun setting noticeably later, my thoughts have drifted back to Corleto and her siren call to the dock.

February marks a year that Corleto and I have been together. To mark this anniversary I had hoped get out on the water and put the laundry up, but life has somehow got in the way.

I have visited the dock with some regularity. Checking lines and the bilge. Making sure that the boat is not iced up inside. The little space heater has done a great job keeping the boat above freezing. We are kinda lucky here in BC as the winter has been less that brutal unlike the winter being experienced in the rest of North America. Just before Christmas I had resealed the leaking port lights. I checked after each major rain event and found that the windows have been truly sealed. I did however discover that I have a leaky chain plate on the port side. I guess that re-bedding will be in my immediate future as the winter gives way to spring.
It was discovered during last fall's ONN Weekend that my fresh water pump was cracked. That will need attention before we set sail for far away anchorages.

Port Side rear chain plate showing signs of leakage

That said, the second annual Never Ending List of Shit to do is beginning to look like this:

Re-bed Chain Plates
Strip Brightwork
Rewire and change out Ignition Key switch
Gelcoat repairs to the deck
Paint gel coat decking
Replace fresh water drinking water pump.
Clean and polish

This Flo Jet water pump has a crack likely from water freezing form a year ago.

I am sure there is more.

But on the other hand, The Sailing Goals list:

Fly the Spinnaker
Man overboard under sail/ both Charlene and I at the helm.
Anchor with Charlene at the helm.
Explore a bit more.
The Gulf Islands or North to Campbell River
Catch some prawns!

Now is there enough of a season to accomplish all that?
I'm sure there is.