Voyages
May 2017: Parksville to Portland
May 5th: Parksville, British Columbia, Commissioning
The sellers, Bob and Lynn, launched the boat and had many projects complete, but the boat wasn't ready for an offshore run. Corby and I spent three days fitting navigation lights, safety equipment, ground tackle and a host of other items.
May 11th: Depart Parksville for Nanaimo
Corby, Bob and I cast off lines at French Creek Marina for our first 20 mile leg to Nanaimo. An hour into the trip, the engine overheated. Bob, who has sailed Vancouver Island for many years, suggested we motor-sail back to Parksville for repairs. The exhaust was filled with steam and the cooling system wasn't moving much water. Back at the dock, we used a garden hose to back-flush sand, silt and other debris out of the heat exchanger. This turned out to be a simple fix for a puzzling problem. We departed French Creek and tied up at the Nanaimo Muncipal Dock a couple of hours before sunset
Bob guides us down the Canadian coast
Nanaimo has all the amenities you might want with a supermarket near the docks. The Harbour Chandler had spare parts at good prices.
In the harbor, there is a text book example of Cardinal buoys. Two upward triangles indicate safe water to the north and two downward pointing triangles tell you to go south. The others, with a little creativity, suggest that you stay on either the sunrise or sunset sides.
May 12th: Depart Nanaimo for Ladysmith
Corby and I planned for slack water in Dodd Narrows. Our passage is uneventful and we tie up at the LadySmith Community Marina. It's a really nice facility with new buildings and a pleasant, helpful staff. The city is picturesque enough, but not really a tourist destination. The Fox and Hound made us a good dinner. There are a few short trails and the bay views are excellent.
May 13th: Maple Bay Marina was a good stop. Old engines are painted bright colors and scattered around the property as art. I couldn't help looking them over to see if there were any good parts. The restaurant there is in an old Quonset hut. Maple Bay is nicely sheltered and a good stop.
May 14th: We wandered generally south and made a few stops. Many old towns on Vancouver Island are trying to remake themselves as tourist destinations. We found Cowichan to be an interesting stop. There is a boat building school and museum in a nice setting on an old pier. There was a fine lunch at the Rock Cod Cafe
May 16th: Sydney
There was only light wind in outside Sydney. We ghosted along for a couple of hours. Trinity's tiller is so light at these speeds, I was certain something was wrong with her. It was pleasant to sail the length of the bay.
A small front blew in after we moored bringing rain and a breeze. We thought about raising a sail, but found the restaurant offered a good view and shelter.
Port Sydney Marina is an upscale destination, but offers no fuel. We sailed to Van Isle to top off the tank.
FlagsSyndey.MOVMay 17th: Friday Harbor
Friday Harbor is port of entry and Trinity had to be re-flagged as a US vessel. The Border Patrol was both helpful and pleasant. I was concerned the application, but they had us ready to go in an hour.
Friday Harbor offers good food and great views. I suggested a movie, but Corby could find no interest in a talking raccoon. Instead we toured every street and visited the Whale Museum.
May 19th: Anacortes
The channel into Cap Sante Marina showed less then 10 feet under the keel. It's well marked, but I'm always concerned by a shallow water alarm. The harbor master gave us a convenient slip near the commercial docks. Cap Sante is a terrific facility with fine amenities. This is a good place to do laundry, get supplies and relax. Old town Anacortes is a a charming place with lots of shops. The West Marine superstore is handy, but Marine Supply and Hardware was more interesting. Safeway is just across the street and provided a handy stop for provisions.
It might be a 40 minute walk to the top of the bluff where we found a commanding view. We quietly enjoyed just taking it all in.
Chris joined us to make three crew for the rest of our run.
May 20th: Victoria
This was Victoria Day and we enjoyed the holiday. There were lots of activities, bands, buskers and fun in the city. Chris suggested a hike to Beacon Hill Park along the coast. The weather was perfect.
I really enjoy the Empress Hotel, but it's too bad the Bengal is no longer in the Bengal Lounge. I make a point of stopping in the bar every time I visit.
There was a yacht club event and we were pleased to see a Mountie and his friend, Colonel Sanders
May 22nd: Depart Victoria for Astoria, 215 miles
We got a fairly early start out of Victoria. On the way some crab pot buoys showed quite an ebb that was taking us off of our course lines. Chris thought we should have some hot food and the cooking fuel turned out to be empty. We'd filled the tank earlier and didn't expect to fill it again. This resulted in an unplanned stop in Port Angeles. We had intended to run straight for Astoria, but Port Angeles has a customs dock. It was only a short wait to clear, then a long walk to get the tank filled. We departed at lunchtime for Cape Flattery.
The weather was bright, but a westerly raised some chop and Trinity pounded her way by Neah Bay into the Pacific. The auto-pilot allowed us to keep a three-hour lookouts with six hours off. This watch schedule is pretty easy to keep and Chris's turn carried us out the mouth to the buoy at 125 W. From there, it's a pretty easy turn to due South to run down the meridian. This line is far enough away from the coast line to avoid most crab traps.
May 23nd: Down the Coast
We ran through the night with a following sea and 10 to 15 knots of wind. Motor sailing gave us good speed and kept us on track toward Astoria. I had just come off watch and was stripping out of my gear for some sleep when there was a loud bang and the boat lurched sideways. Chris was on deck and said we had struck something. I spent a panicked few minutes checking bilges, keel bolts and lockers. A quick inventory of hull plugs, emergency beacons, survival suits and helicopter rides running through my mind. The boat was intact and handling properly. A later hull inspection revealed a basket ball sized smudge on the bow, evidence of a collision.
The wind freshened and raised a following sea of 6 to 8 feet. Trinity was making hull speed under her headsail alone. The autopilot constantly swung right to left to correct the yaw. Somewhere north of Grays Harbor, Trinity surfed down a wave and into the trough with enough speed to broach. The auto-pilot tried to correct as the boat spun out, but couldn't move the tiller fast enough. The boat laid beam-to and a wave washed over the decks, leaving about 4 inches of water in the cockpit. We were able to correct quickly, but the auto-pilot had broken the mount, leaving us the task of steering by hand.
May 24th: Over the Bar.
Slack after flood was at 0130. We had a great run down the coast, but a few elements convinced us to make an early morning crossing. The compass light and autopilot failed and this contributed to fatigue. Chris took the tiller and raced the last 20 miles to the Columbia river bar. He made speeds up to 8 knots with the gps reading 10.4 while surfing. We arrived at 2330 giving us two hours on a flood to make the eight mile run to Ilwaco.
We turned into the wind and discovered the headsail wouldn't roll up. Chris went forward but was unsuccessful at either tying it off or pulling it down. There was a large chop and sea running made foredeck work a challenge. We decided to let it flog and worry about it dockside. Forty five minutes later, it started to shred with hand sized pieces flying off into the night.
We eventually found our way into Ilwaco and discovered the boat wasn't handling properly. It took a couple of tries to get into a slip. We called a diver and discovered the prop was fouled with fishing net. He also noted a basketball sized smudge under the bow, probably a result of something we hit outside of Grays Harbor.
May 26th: Up the River
There was a spring freshet resulting in a river current between 2 and 3 knots. The hundred mile run up the river took two full days of motoring. There was some lucky wind to fill the main on Friday, but our best speed over ground was just over three knots.
We considered several options for anchoring overnight, but found a spot near the Longview Yacht Club in Fisherman's Slough halfway to Portland. We made a simple, but filling meal from the last of the supplies.
Saturday was light, just enough to fill the asymmetrical but not much more. We stopped for lunch in the town of St. Helens.
We crossed under the I5 bridge just after sunset and moored Trinity in her new slip.
