Canada Day Weekend With Friends

With nothing particular on the books for the Canada Day (July 1st) weekend I decided to get out on a little over nighter and and I put the word out to my small circle of sailing acquaintances for a possible meetup.  Most had plans but Curtis and his son Ben were keen so we decided to meet at Halkett Bay on Gambier Island as this is kind of between my launch at Gibsons Landing (closer)and Burnaby (much further) where Curtis keeps his Siren 17.   Comparatively my route was really straight forwards whereas Curtis and Ben had two significant tidal narrows, busy Vancouver harbour and the unpredictable Point Ackinson.

I was on the water by 8:30 a.m. after launching at Gibsons Marina.  The winds were light to nonexistent so I  employed combinations of sailing, motoring and motorsailing.

A beautiful morning to head out

With no big rush to get there I popped in to Centre Bay to check out the retired Canadian Armed Forces frigate that is being prepared to sinking by the artificial reef society.

Still above water

Upon entering the Halkett Bay Marine Park anchorage I spotted the characteristic Nonsuch 26 belonging to Mark and Nessa whom Lisa and I met in Gibsons Marina two years ago.  They very kindly invited me aboard for refreshments in their comfy covered cockpit.

I've seen this boat before...

Afterwards I picked my spot and dropped anchor then set up my rather unsophisticated Cockpit Cover 1.0 to get out of the sun.  Reading and a little nap followed.

Sun shade

Late in the afternoon Curtis and Ben arrived and they rafted up with Bluster for the night before we all set about making  dinner.

Neighbours arrive

Dinner

Later on Mark picked us all up in his inflatable for a lovely evening aboard their boat.  We counted twenty eight boat at anchor which is a fair cry from my last visit here when there was just a hand full.

Taxi

Early to bed and the morning Curtis and Ben headed over to the dinghy dock to do a walk about behead heading home while raised anchor and did a few lapse around the bay taking photos.

Morning

Siren at the dinghy dock

Bon journey!

Even though the previous night was fairly windy it was mostly calm for my motor back to Gibsons Landing where I picked up Lisa for a little spin into the Salish Sea before back to the busy ramp and the haul out.

Mate

A great holiday weekend and extra great to share it with some friends.

Cruise to Halkett Bay Marine Park

If I picked a theme for this year it would be to 'explore locally'.  We like to cycle and hike and dine out and it was amazing to me the places that are close and that I after years of living in the same place I have never experienced.  Halkett Bay Marine Park is on the south shore of Gambier Island that we pass by regularly on the ferry to our Sunshine Coast cottage and I have never been there.

Weather was forecast for sunny, 19 degrees high and 10-15 knots south west winds.  With no particular commitments I decided to go for an overnight mini cruise and visit Halkett Bay Marine Park    (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/halkett_bay/).

I arrived at Gibsons Landing Marina around 11:00 and by the time I had Bluster rigged and purchased launch ramp (such a deal at $10 including secured overnight parking) it was noon and the wind was certainly picking up.  Once free of all the Sunday kayaks, powerboats and sharp corners of of the marina I was able to catch my breath and pop the jib for a nice little downwind run through Shoal Channel.  The wind was quite fresh and even under jib alone I was hitting 4 knots.  I just love the Chebacco jib for this kind of work.  It is only thirty five square feet so it is plenty of pull for higher winds when the (relatively) huge mainsail work be just scary for me.  More on this later.

4 knots

This is the first time I had ever seen fishing trawlers in this part of Howe Sound.

 Rounding KeatsIsland the run was turning into a reach so I set the mizzen and by tying off the jib sheet to the tiller enjoyed miles of self steering goodness. 



Chilling with the self steering

Eventually the winds slacken and it was time to raise the main sail.  When alone I don’t usually run the jib and main as the number of lines required becomes a bother.  When attempting to furl the jib the furling line became jammed under the spool and the so I used a three mainsail ties to manually furling it around its own stay.  Crude but it worked. 

By this time the wind had again freshened so I decided to start out with a deep reef in the main.  It did not look pretty but worked well enough as a short time later I was racing along with green water soaking my back.  Great fun but admittedly a little scary too.  Starting to experience excessive weather helm (and the resulting rudder cavitation when corrected) I eased the mizzen until almost feathered and this settled things somewhat.  At some point the GPS recorded a maximum speed of 6.9 knots.

Deep reefed main and jury furled jib

Here is a link for a brief video of the action:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS9oejhKwVk&feature=youtu.be

Halkett Bay is the furthest east of the bays along the south side of Gambier Island and eventually I reached a point where I would leave the reach and begin the run into the bay itself.  Because this was new territory for me I thought it prudent to drop the main sail and run in under power.  While starting the engine, without giving it my full attention due to the flapping sails and wind, the cord locked in mid pull which jammed my hands against the tiller.  I hit the little plastic clamp the holds the tiller extension in place, breaking it and slicing a bit of skin from the back of my hand.  Bleeding, I\managed to get the engine started and the sail furled.

Not having fun if someone does not get hurt!

At the head of the bay I dropped anchor within the marine park and enjoyed the next couple of hours relaxing in the sun, tidying up and sorting out the jib furling.  Bluster is a very light, unballast boat and she tends to wander around in any sort of breeze while at anchor.  

At anchor

With this mizzen set and sheeted in flat she holds fast into the wind. 

Around 7:00 pm the last of the day trippers vacated the dingy dock so I weighed anchor and relocated there for the night.

The park itself is very fetching with groves of sword ferns and maples.  There are several camping sites along the shore with picnic tables and pit toilet.

 I set about making my dinner of instant fried potatoes and scrambled eggs after which I finished cleaning up and securing the boat for the night.  It was 9:00 pm and still quite bright out but the long day was taking its toll so I crawled in the cuddy, relocated my gear to the port side, spread my sleeping bag out on a mattress of seat cushions and crashed.  First test for the new bug screen drop boards.

Galley set up

Dinner

Up at 6:00 for to take some photos and prepare a hot breakfast.  Virtually not wind so I fired up the Honda and motored out of Halkett Bay.

Morning at Halkett Bay

Hot breakfast - very civilized

For my route back to Gibsons I decided to take the Georgia Straight side, between Keats Island and the Paisely Island Group.  The incoming swells were on the uncomfortably large size but the wind was much less than  yesterday.  Bluster was tossed around quite a bit but lashing the boom to the gallows kept things tight and secure.

Bashing through the swells

Rounding the tip of Keats Island I entered Shoal Channel and around the corner to Gibsons Landing and the Marina.  I was a little worried because the tide was very low and only a bit of the float at the ramp was still floating but I managed to just tie up.  This is a good low water ramp so I had no trouble retrieving Bluster.

Low tide at the ramp

This was a very enjoyable trip that included solo sailing in the the highest winds yet for me.  Although it was both exciting and a little frightening for me I was very pleased with Bluster's performance and has given my confidence a nice push.  In higher winds I usually furl the main and use jib and mizzen combination so it was a good experience in main sail reefing.

Yaviza and Friends Cruise Howe Sound

Cal Cran is a Chebacco builder/sailor from Alberta who got together with legendary Chebacco builder/sailor Jamie Orr with Wayward Lass from for a fall cruise in Howe Sound.  They were joined by Curtis Patzer sailing his Siren 17, Nautilus.  The following is Cal's report of the cruise with some photos  courtesy of Jamie.  Thank you both for sharing!

Yaviza my Chebacco cat yawl had not been away from Mabel Lake for 2 years so during the last week of September I checked the weather forecast for Howe Sound, found the conditions were to be excellent and hatched a plan to drive out and sail for 4 or 5 days.

Emails were sent out to Jamie Orr, Curtis Patzer and Randy Wheating. All replied and agreed to try and meet up, except for Randy as he was in France.

I arrived in North Van. At Sunset Marina Wednesday afternoon and rigged the boat for a morning departure. Cooked supper at the marina in the parking lot and slept in the boat.

Thursday morning was pure blue skies and calm winds so after a leisurely breakfast motored out of the marina towards Gibsons which I estimated as 4 to 5 hours away, where I was to met Jamie near Plumpers Cove marine park. Jamie was crossing the Georgia Strait from Crofton, Vancouver Island. The meeting went perfectly to plan, as I arrived at the same time as Jamie! I motored for about 3 hours before the wind came up and allowed sailing. This motoring time gave me time to play with my new 5 watt solar panel and charge the 18amh battery I had just installed. This system powers a LED cabin and anchor light that I just bought from Bebi Electronics in Fiji, it has enough power to power the lights, GPS and handheld VHS for at least 3 days without the sun.

Plumpers Cove was not collecting fees as it was the end of the season so we tied up to the dock for the night.

Next morning a light breeze was blowing so we played around in Shoal Channel before going into Gibsons for a second Breakfast at Mollies Reach. After breakfast it started to rain lightly so donned the rain gear and set sail for a trip around Bowen Island through Collingwood Channel , the rain turned to real rain and the wind was 10 knots from the NW which made for a nice reach into the channel!, once in Collingwood the run was made pleasant by a return to sunny conditions. Once to Hutt Island the wind became light and as it was getting near dark we motored over to Snug Cove for the night and tied to the dock, cooked supper and slept like a baby.

 

We were to meet Curtis today some where in English Bay so we set out into Queen Charlotte Channel towards  Pt. Atkinson with a following outflow from the Sound.

Around noon we approached Pt. Atkinson in waves as big as my house! At one point I looked over at Jamie and ¾’s of his bottom was showing as he climbed a wave and crashed down, later he told me on one wave he saw my center board!! During this learning experience I looked up and saw Curtis motoring right beside me saying lets get out of here and into Howe Sound, I quickly agreed. We then sailed on the afternoon inflow slowly towards Halkett Bay Marine Park. Arrived in the late afternoon and anchored out in about 30ft of water. Jamie inflated his tender and took us to shore for a hike. Cooked supper and after dark we met on Yaviza for wine and dark chocolate.

Wayward Lass (front) and Yaviza at anchor

 

My new Bebi 15 LED anchor light was the brightest in the cove, I hoist it on the topping lift.

Morning arrived and it was time for everyone to start for home, Curtis to Port Moody, Jamie back across the Strait and myself to Sunset and eventually Mabel Lake. Winds were calm and I motored back to Sunset where I prepared the boat for trailering  and started home by about 1400 arriving home at 2100.

All in all a most enjoyable trip and I plan to explore Howe sound more next year. Hoping to have Randy in Bluster along for the fun.

Shifting Gears

The shift lever for the Honda BF5 is located on the starboard side of the outboard motor.  This is not exactly conveniently located when the motor is mounted on the Chebacco considering the distance to the transom for the cockpit.  Add in the mizzen mast, main sheet traveller and boom gallows to make the reach even trickier. 

Cleverly (thought I) I could make a sort of poor man's remote control by attaching wooden control dowels to the shifter lever and the twist throttle (using a commercial throttle extender).  Holes were drilled into the cockpit bulkhead and the dowels extended slightly into the cockpit.  Thus, without so much as standing up I could control the shifting and speed from the cockpit.  This system worked great for general motoring but it fell short in that the motor was now locked into position on the centre line of the boat and could not longer be pivoted to manoeuvre in tight quarters.  This is a definite disadvantage considering the poor reversing and stopping characterists of this Chebacco/OB combination.

Remote shifter 1.0 one end...

...and the other

Back to the drawing board as they say.  Jamie Orr has the same motor on his boat, Wayward Lass.  He added a short extension to the shifter that allowed him to shift by reaching over the top of the motor to shift gears.  When motoring in tight quarters Jamie would perch on the port aft deck and be able to control shifter, throttle and tiller handily.  This arrangement allows the motor to still pivot when required for tight manoeuvring.  Clever chap that Jamie, so I copied him.  My lever extension was in fact the plastic extended socket wench thingy that came with  my new kitchen faucet and it fit perfectly.  Never throw anything out.

Remote shifter 2.0

A keen observer may notice in the top two photos the extension to the motor pull cord.  As with the shifter -the mizzen, rudder post, main sheet traveller and the distance to the transom from the cockpit make pulling the starter cord a challenge and a risk to back, elbows and fingernails.  Very considerately, when purchased, the Honda OB came with a back up starting cord to be used in the unlucky event of cord breakage or failure of the ratchet mechanism.  This cord is attached to the rubber hand grip of the built in starter cord and reaches easily to the cockpit.  Simple and slick.

Iron Wind - Honda 5 hp Outboard

I love my 5 hp BF5 Honda outboard motor.  After ten years of yeoman service this engine has never let me down and fires up on the first or second pull even after sitting for months.  As a lad my brother and I fiddled around with the family collection of ancient and balky 2 stroke Evinrude outboards.  Based on these early experiences I decided during my boat build that if I ever completed the thing I would reward myself with a new four stroke engine.

Shiny and new

The outboard was in fact purchased during the build and I modified the transom to fit it.  This motor comes in  either a regular or long shaft version and I opted for the regular one as the leg, when in the run position, was no deeper than the shoal rudder on the Chebacco.  My thinking for this was that tucked up like this the expensive engine would not be the first part of the boat at the scene of a grounding.  I was concerned that the prop may not be deep enough for maximum efficiency but this has not been the case.  The downside of this is when in reverse the wash is directed onto the rudder and a firm hand is required to keep tiller from slamming over.

Clamped on like it belongs there

The Honda is very miserly in the fuel consumption department and is nice and quiet as well.  One criteria I felt important for the outboard was a remote fuel tank.  I know from experience the limited integrated tank capacity can let you down just when  it is needed if not carefully monitored.  The well between the cockpit and transom I designed to fit two of the 12.5 litre (3 gal) remote tanks.  In practise I only carry one.

The prop was replaced with one more suited to pushing a displacement hull resulting in a half knot speed improvement.  Half throttle pushes Bluster along easily at five knots and opening  it all the way only grain another half knot or so so I rarely go there.

If I realistically looked back on the time spent on the water since launching Bluster back in 2002 as memorable as the sailing times were, we probably spent as much or more time motoring.  Investing in a good outboard, for me, was money well spent.

No wind, no problem

Gaff Business

I did not 100% followed the original Phil Bolger drawings when I built Bluster.  Most of the deviations involved raising and widening the cabin, changing the stern cut away and adding a mast tabernacle.  In hind sight, all good ideas.  One item I considered changing but did not is the straight style gaff horns (fork?).

The straight ones are easier to build but do not work as well or look as "gaffy" as the curved style.  This retrofit was on my to do list for this year.  

I started by cutting away the straight horns but leaving the base, where the one piece original horns were attached to the gaff.  

The new horns were cut out of 3/4" plywood and glued into place.

Epoxy sealing and a couple of coats of Interlux Brightside Polyurathane White.
Job done. Tick.

In place, working fine and looking good

Cover Girl

While attending the Sucia Small Boat Rendezvous http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sucia/ back in July of 2006 we anchored Bluster in Fossil Bay while camping ashore.  Josh Colvin, editor of the wonderful Small Craft Advisor magazine http://smallcraftadvisor.com/ snapped this photo from the cockpit of his boat one morning.  I think it is just magical and apparently SCA did too as it graced the cover of the Sept/Oct 2006 edition. 
Thanks Josh, I bought eight issues!

A Midweek Break - Exploring the South Shores of Gambier Island

My work schedule this past week offered me up a couple of midweek days off and with a good weather forecast I decided to slip in a mini cruise near my home port of Gibsons Landing BC. 



Gibsons Landing Marina



After working until midnight the previous night I caught to 0720 hrs ferry to Langdale which is just down the road from Gibsons Landing where we have a cottage (my wife's blog is http://cottagerswife.wordpress.com/) and I store Bluster on a trailer.  By 1000 hrs I had packed, launched and tied to the wharf at Gibsons Marina.  A gorgeous but cool fall day and quiet at the launch ramp which makes things so much easier when working alone.  The rough plan was to spend the day exploring the bays and shoreline along the south shore of Gambier Island and then end up a Plumper Cove Marine Park (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/plumper/) on Keats Island where I would grab a mooring buoy for the night. 

 

Shoal Channel



Motored past the breakwater and into Shoal Channel where I set to mainsail and enjoyed a lovely broad reach with a little help from the Honda on occasion.  Upon reaching the head of West Bay I planned to anchor and prepare a hot lunch but a convenient float was just too convenient so I tied up. 

After lunch and some time tidying and organizing Bluster I then set off to sail, motor and motor sail around the corner to Centre Bay and Grace Islands.  Later, West Bay and the free float were calling me back so I skipped my plans for Plumpers Cove and returned there to spend the night.

Once the sun slipped behind the nearby hill the temperature dropping quickly and considering lack of sleep the previous night I was cozily tucked into my sleeping bag enjoying the warm light of a candle lantern by 2000 hrs.      

 



View from bed

 

Still air and mirror flat water greeted me the next morning.  By 0730 hrs I was motoring back to Gibsons and by 1000 hrs Bluster was back on her trailer and tucked into a stall in the dry land storage area of the marina.  I like to time my recovery with high tides to improve the odds of getting my 2wd car and trailer back up the ramp!



Return to Gibsons Landing

      

An excellent little cruise and a good opportunity for me to evaluate the Chebacco's potential for solo multiday trips.   Until now I had never been on an overnight cruise alone in Bluster and I must say I certainly enjoyed the luxury of the extra space!