Kelp Killer

So sailing with no engine makes you occasionally end up in interesting spots. Some of those spots are amazing, but some just kind of suck.

I had left Alert Bay with the intention of sailing to Hanson Island and anchoring on the north side of it. Light air and high current (going opposite what you would think) lead to my dropping anchor just off Perse Island and waiting for the tide to change to the ebb.

Finally the current slacked off and the wind came up a bit. I decided to give it a try to get through and continue my day off sailing.

I was making progress but I had to decide what side of a kelp patch to attempt. With the current still running against me I decided to go for the side closest to shore. This ended up biting me in the ass.

Needless to say the wind died and the current swept me back into the kelp. I ended up well ensconced in the kelp.

Ok now what. I tried cutting my way free with my kitchen knife. Between my lack of reach and an unhappy incident on the back swing I decided that wasn't working. I ended up attaching the knife to my boat hook with a sail tie. At least now it was out of range of damaging me(well unless it came flying loose).

Cutting my way out wasn't working so o went old school, very old school. I had only done kedging once before but it does work. Placed my stern anchor in my kayak and tied its rode to my bow. Paddled as far as I could go and dropped it over. Back to the boat and started pulling myself along. After repeating once more and a bit more cutting I was free and on my way.

 My knife is now called Kelp Killer.

Sailing to Port Hardy

Yesterday was a long one. I sailed from Lizard Point on Malcom Island to Port Hardy (with the way I sail just under 50miles).

The day started off with light air and sadly negative current. I decided to risk it anyways. Lots of short tacking the shore and only making an inch or two forward but better than sitting at anchor.

Finally the current turned. It wasn't much but at least I was making a knot forward. Got to Bere Point and still no Orca. I have seen more cruise ships than I have seen than I have seen whales.

At least by that point the wind had built so time to sail. I decided then to go for the late night so I would definitely go on to Port Hardy. I just wasn't thinking it would be as late night as it ended up being.

I finally dropped anchor at 4am. Before that I got to watching shooting stars for a couple of hours. I also got to watch salmon shoot around my boat in the phorescene. It was amazing.

Alert Bay

This one is mainly pictures.

 Alert Bay Ship Yard

The fresh water marsh, eagle nest

 Waiting for the Cup to arrive

 Willie Mitchell with the Stanley Cup

Havanna to Alert Bay

The morning after getting to Havana Channel it was time for Louis to head north to Kingcome Inlet. It was great having the company but 27ft is too small for two complete strangers to share for more than a day or two.

After he was off I started to get ready for my day. Mainly listening to the weather to decide what sail to start the day with.  They were calling for a gale.   Not what I usually try to start off in.  I continued to listen and I heard something I hadn't heard of before: "marginal gale".  Finally figured out that it wouldn't be blowing as hard as I thought, so #3 on deck and anchors up.  Great sailing was had. 

A couple of hours later I made Robson's Bight.  Finally I was going to see some orca.  The chance to see them rubbing on the beach was a major highlight of this trip for me.  Sadly, it wasn't to be.  The whole area was empty.

On the shore opposite Robson's I saw some thing moving.  As I got closer I realized that it was a black bear.  I got as close as I could without putting myself on rocks and blew my sails.  I was making such a racket that the bear stopped and looked up.

After the bear I saw a minke a couple of times. Eventually I made it to Alert Bay and dropped anchor.

My Hitchhiker

I now know that you can fit a 17 ft kayak on a 27 ft sailboat.

After chatting at Shoal Bay and discussing how we each did the rapids, Louis asked if he could hitch a ride through the Greene Point whirlpool and get dropped off at Havana Channel.  I thought it would be nice to have some company, so a plan was hatched.  The next morning we loaded his kayak onto my boat. It went from bow to the aft part of my cabin.

Made tacking a little interesting in light air, which unfortuately is what happened.  I think that unless it is blowing over 40 kts I will take Mayne Passage instead of Greene Pt and Whirlpool.

Because of the timing of the tides I didn't clear Greene Pt until 730pm which made for a very late night. Finally dropped anchor near Whirlpool around 130am. Set the alarm to wake up to get the early ebb.  The alarm went off and, well, I decided that we were not going anywhere.

All I could see was the shore about 30ft away everything else was fog.  Not even I am crazy enough to go through a rapid in the fog (or at night).  So back to sleep.  Eventually the fog lifted but now we were tide locked, so had to wait til 8pm for the tide (especially since there was no wind).

We ended up playing a couple of games of cribbage (tied at 3 games apiece) and watching a dolphin with a baby dolphin.  Sadly they stayed just outside of the range of my camera.

Finally cleared the last rapid and dropped anchor for the night since there was no wind.

Shoal Bay

Shoal Bay was amazing, a home away from home.  Mark and Cynthia have created an amazing place for boaters.

I ended up anchored out just off the government dock. Before I even made it to shore I was greeted by a wonderful woman named Sunny. She brought me a little gift bag of some fruit and chocolate.  We ended up talking about my trip and theirs.  I found out that they had been cruising between Vancouver and Alaska for the last few years.  Later, charts were pulled out and they showed me their favorite anchoring spots and a couple of hints about ways around more challenging spots in my trip.

After meeting with Sunny and Bob I wandered up the dock to explore.  Wow, the place is great. They have a little pub with a deck that looks up Phillip's Arm:

Behind the pub is a cute little garden.  I ended up doing some weeding. :D  Has been a while since I did that.  They also have chickens... fresh eggs.  I ended up with 6. I am definitely sending some seeds to Cynthia once I get home.

That night the Go Fish game of all games happened. :)  Thanks to AJ, Jonathan and Jessica.  It was a blast.

The next night was Pizza Night.  I was so there.  A woodfired pizza oven in the middle of nowhere. Major happiness.  Things got a little interesting at the end with one boat's bow anchor dragging... but that was easily taken care of.  Ended up chatting late into evening with a kayaker.  Which lead to the next little adventure.

Boat wrens?

Anchoring at Shoal Bay

So I don't have a depth sounder on the boat.  Usually this isn't an issue as I do have a leadline.  However leadlines really need to be used at less than 4 knots... a lot less.

When I got to Shoal Bay it was blowing fairly briskly from the head of the bay. No worries; a little short tacking and I will be golden.  Wrong.  I miscalculated.  I dropped my anchor in what I thought was 50 ft. Try 150 ft. I was blasting toward the shore at 3.5 knots and the anchor hadn't bitten down at all.  So I pulled the plug and off I went back out.

Now I had a little bit of an issue.  I had my anchor down with 100 ft of rope out doing 4.5 knots across the mouth of an anchorage with just my main up.  What to do, what to do...

First thing, anchor up.  Not so easy.  Slowed the boat down and went forward to start pulling it up.  At this point couple of guys came up offered to dinghy me in closer.  So for the second time I took an offer of a tow.

Damn, I must be getting soft.