Tuesday, October 20, 2015

To Jones! To Jones!

For a get away from our domestic decay we headed out to the wild waters up north, and when I asked my family which of our many favorite spots they wanted to return to they all spoke up with "To Jones!".

They had not been out on Aeolus since our summer trip in Desolation Sound, and as I am about to launch into a number of projects it would be our last trip for a few months. Over the years Jones Island has taken on a special significance, rather like a favorite blanket or pillow. We know it so well, and love it so much, it is a comforting place to have adventure!
Owen and our salty dog "Salty"!


It is about 3.5 hours at 6 knots from Anacortes to Jones Island, and we had to motor the whole way there and back as there was never more than a wisp of wind. People again stayed away by the millions as it is not July or August, but the days were warm and lovely, and we had Jones essentially to ourselves.

We stayed on the south side this time to gather more light, and enjoyed the weekend hiking around the west and east side trails and playing frisbee in the grassy fields. We even had luck catching a keeper Dungeness crab from right near Aeolus.
A perfect moment in time

The best thing about the whole trip was the time we had together as a family, as I have said countless times on this blog, it is truly remarkable how wonderful our family time is on the boat, and how common and mediocre it is here at home. We hike together, play games together, eat all meals together, and yet aren't tired of one another. The boys are always on better behavior for some reason. My guess is that it is simply a right way to live. Physically active, socially close, intellectually stimulating with all the nature and books aboard, and the knowledge you are doing something really cool.

A formula for happiness if I've ever seen one.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

A week in Desolation Sound does wonders...

From one Saturday to another we journeyed through the islands of Desolation Sound, British Columbia. We started from Cortes Island, and returned to Cortes island. Though we have explored the area for many, many years now, we continue to find new places, and new revelations. Our joke is that it is only rocks, water and trees. Yet those three simple elements combine in the most transfixing ways.

It is always less a journey through landscape than a journey through consciousness. The stories in our minds go from being about work and society and international affairs, to the flight of eagles across a blue sky, the feel of water between our toes as we swim, and the warmth of lengthy intimate contact with people you love. We go away, as we always have, to go in.

The geography is superlative in every way, and worthy of all adulation. Yet it is merely a trigger, or catalyst. Nothing is seen as it is. Things appear as we are, not as they are!

After time in wild, spectacular places, it is we who change. And it is less the spectacular that compels us over time, but the simple. The small beauties. The magnificent contained in the miniscule.

So I can relate the stories of where we anchored, and where we swam. I could go on for pages about the islands, trails, weather and nature. And that is all important, and fascinating. But it is not what I want to write at the moment. I would rather just say that doing all this results in me being a healthier, wiser and more peaceful person. Centered. In myself, and for my my family.

Is there anything more important?

Here are a few photos that show some places, and our bodies among the beautiful landscapes. Until we perhaps develop a technology that renders happiness, peace, transcendence, calm or wisdom on some media that photos do not, then we will fail to understand what really happens when we explore deep into nature for extended periods. The smiles may look the same as when in the city, but the reality behind the faces could not be more different!

A picture of bliss and contentment!
The boys at Walsh Cove being feral and fulfilled 

Mom and son jumped into the 75 degree saltwater, and were cleansed of their concerns!

Everywhere looks like this. Rocks, water, trees. Boring...

Just because. For people like me, the sky and sea...


Sunday, August 2, 2015

Delivery trip to Cortes Island: 152 miles in 2.5 days

I've just returned home from delivering Aeolus up to Cortes Island, British Columbia. A trip I've done several times now, and it never fails to thrill me.

The itinerary I followed was to depart Anacortes on Thursday night, making it to Blind Bay, Shaw Island. Friday morning saw me moving by 6am and I made it to Dodd Narrows with some time before slack so got in a quick swim at lovely DeCourcy Island. Spent that night in Nanaimo at Newcastle Island. Saturday I departed at 6am and powered all the way to Hernando Island right up the gut of the Strait of Georgia,   taking until 8pm to finally drop anchor. This morning, I did the short jaunt from Hernando to Cortes and Gorge Harbour.

Since it was a delivery trip I motored the entire way, especially since the winds were NW and tacking would have doubled my time. I had fairly benign conditions on this trip, with only some rough stretches leaving Nanaimo into a 20 knot NW wind that soon dissipated. That 3 knot SOG would have been brutal if it continued, not to mention the pounding into 3-4 foot seas. Later that day the whole sea was a mill pond off Texada and Sisters Islets.

No drama on this trip. Lots of time to reflect on what matters in my life, and how precious this time on Aeolus truly is. It is a sailing and exploring paradise up there and I only wish I could spend 6 months there at a time!

Here are a few photos:
Moonrise Thursday night was stunning
















A happy sailor who got a quick swim before Dodd Narrows! 




















A typical flat sea, deathly hot and not another soul. An amazing lack of other boats or humans on the Strait of Georgia. People staying in the city, staying away by the millions!

Approaching Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island. A lovely entry into a wonderful spot. 

Haul out in Port Townsend was successful

I really enjoyed my haul out in Port Townsend as it is the finest nautical town in Washington without the urbanity of Seattle and they are one of the last yards around that still lets a boat owner work on their own boat. This is so important to me that I cannot imagine paying someone to do the basic maintenance boats require.

All I did at this haul out was bottom paint and zincs. Nothing compared to last time! I found her free of barnacles on the hull, which was good, but did have some on the rudder where the prop wash had totally worn away the ablative paint. Given all the miles on that paint I was impressed. It had gone 900 miles around Vancouver Island and also a trip to Princess Louisa, in addition to all of our weekend and three day get aways.

Here are some shots.
A Gulf 32 hauled out

Prop had been scraped. Shows lack of paint on rudder. 
Zinc added and prop coated with Lanocote Prop stuff. I've used regular Lanocote with good results before. Wonder if this will last longer to justify the added cost.

Two coats of paint and ready for the Salish Sea! Ain't she a beaut!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Aeolus North!

The hours tick as Aeolus awaits yet another journey north. Does she know? Can she tell that she is about to slice through the most beautiful waters in North America? Does she tremble with anticipation like I do?

This journey north will be a relief in coming. No matter the timing of any delivery trip, they always come at a needed time. Muir said to shed the routines of our lives and escape to wilderness to cleanse our souls. Amen.

Who will I see? What creatures will I travel near? What wandering thoughts will occupy my mind? Which version of my many selves will inhabit the dominance of my consciousness?

Together we will journey. A trusty vessel and a salty captain. In these days of turmoil, like all past days, the journey will release me to the star capped limitless everywhere.

What more do I need from a three day trip than a voyage through the Salish Sea?

Fellow sailors, wish me well. Not for my physical safety, which is assured, but for the journey between my ears, which is far more hazardous territory. And I am not troubled, beyond my angst of existence and nature abused. The hazardous journey is the challenge of being present enough in the moment to realize the perfection of all things.

The perfection of all things. When traveling the Salish Sea.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Haul out time! PCA Gold has lasted well.

On recent trips I've been appalled to see heavy slime on the hull of Aeolus. She is no racer, but I abhor the thought of extra drag on her efficiency. I looked closer and even saw barnacles on the part of the rudder that the prop wash hits. No Way!

I dove on the prop to scrape off the barnacles on the rudder and a few off the prop as well. Doing this in the Salish Sea means getting into 50 degree water and let me tell you, it's cold! I wear a farmer john wetsuit and a swimmers cap, and that is just enough. I'm too cheap to get a full suit and booties and all that for my occasional dives on the boat. I find the hardest part is the first minute. Once the arms and neck freeze, it's fine!

So it is time to haul out. I have been using West Marine PCA Gold for the past several paintings and have been happy with it. It has been two years since our last haul out and during that time we have done a 900 mile circumnavigation of Vancouver Island and a trip to Princess Louisa. Several thousand miles of water over the hull and it is just now wearing out.

I will also reapply the lanocote I have found effective on the prop. I get a long period of clean prop from lanocote in this way.

I'm also looking forward to hauling out in Port Townsend for the first time. I used to always haul at Jensens in Friday Harbor. A great local shop that I loved supporting, and had advantages. For one, and most importantly, you could work on your own boat!

Port Townsend also allows you to work on your own boat, and for us DIY sailors this is essential. All the yards in Anacortes make you pay them to do your paint or anything, and that is both expensive and absurd. So long as tarps are used there is no reason a professional is any safer for the environment than a DIY. And I know I do a better job as it pained me last time to watch someone else apply my paint.

So hauling will give me an excuse to traverse the eastern Straits again, which is always guaranteed to provide surprises and beauty. I'm not planning to do any major work or surgery, but you never know do you?


Monday, June 1, 2015

Tumbo Island never disappoints!

For Memorial Day my family took off for Tumbo as we have the past several years. This was our first voyage from Anacortes. It turned out to be a bit longer, but also more scenic, compared to the trip from Friday Harbor. It was right about 30 miles to Tumbo on a straight line.

Like a space ship approaching a distant world
It was ebbing on Saturday as we began our journey north. I am still learning the peculiarities of the currents there on the eastern side of the San Juans. You more or less avoid the main channels and try to catch eddies wherever possible. We made our way north and enjoyed the immense beauty of Lummi Island and Cypress. What grand places.

Dinner!
There is something magical about Boundary Pass that goes beyond the international boundary. In fact, the only reason it is the international boundary is because it is so special! As a large gap between otherwise thickly packed islands, it is both a major water drainage and transportation corridor. Whenever we cross it we know we will be accompanied by harbor porpoises and seals. We have seen Dalls porpoises as well, but not in years.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Troubles with raw water strainer

Your raw water strainer is an essential and easily ignore part of your engine systems. I don't think I've ever done a post on it over all these years because there is really nothing to say. Unless you break it, like I did! Of course you have to drain and clean them once in a while, and many a boater has encountered engine problems due to a blocked strainer that deprived their cooling system of water. But aside from that, there are no moving parts, and should not be any trouble.

Unless, like me, you manage to snap the little plastic drain plug off in the hole. Yes. I had removed the plug to drain the water, and when tightening the little bugger back in the handle snapped off from the shaft, leaving the threaded shaft in the hole. Damn it. Luckily it allowed only a small dribble of a leak so we were able to continue our trip last time out. I put some tape over it and it wasn't a problem.

New plug ready to install
But nothing bugs me more than knowing I have a leak or problem like this. I can't let it go in my mind, nor should I! So I ordered the new plug from Groco, which looks like an improved and stronger design, and when we went back this time I installed it.

However, as many of you know, it is not easy to get a screw out of something if it has no head. I went ahead and drilled a small hole through the center of the plastic in order to give me something to purchase. I did not have an easy out on the boat, or I would have used it. Instead, I took a small flat screwdriver and managed to get enough purchase to reverse the broken piece back out of the hole. Really, the only thing that allowed this to work is that it is a plastic screw in a plastic hole. If it had been metal or corroded metal, I would have had to get an easy out.

Put it all back together with new Orings and she should be good for another 10 years. One note, the screws that bolt the plastic tank to the bronze top on mine were rusted. I cleaned them off and coated them with ACF 50 this time and wish I had done that before. They were a little tough to remove.

Clark Island a new favorite

As we explore our new local waters around Anacortes we are delighted to come across new favorite places. Cypress Island is quite magnificent, and I've chosen not to write much about it as it remains the wildest of the islands. This time we decided to explore yet another new place I had passed by with the boys on our Sucia a few weeks ago.

Clark Island beach on east side
I had never even heard of Clark Island, which lies just east of Orcas. It is clearly a local haunt for people from Bellingham or Lummi. We fought the ebb for a long way getting there on Saturday and enjoyed the lovely views along the way. The east side of Guemes is quite beautiful, and of course Vendovi and Lummi are rugged gems. Eventually, you end up at Clark Island. With neutral current it is about a 3 hour trip.

There is a bight on the east side that has mooring balls and a few places to anchor. We dropped anchor in about 40' of water and enjoyed a fantastic few days of exploring this great place. The beach on the east side was filled with people camping who had kayaked over from Lummi or in one case, rowed a giant skin frame canoe over as one large group. This group was young, with kids, and has been doing this trip for 14 years on this weekend, I'm told. The skin frame vessel fits 15 or so people, and is apparently quite stout.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Sucia weekend with my boys

My wife was going to be busy on Saturday with a workshop, and it had been too long since I had taken Aeolus out for an adventure, so I grabbed the boys and took off for a weekend of fun. Since I work in Seattle, it works well to have the boys get on the ferry from Bainbridge and for me to pick them up on the other side on a Friday night. That is just what we did.

I still hadn't decided where we were going to go, and the forecast was for warm sunny weather. So when we woke up on Saturday morning I took a poll of my conscience preferences and decided on Sucia. Sucia is such a zoo during nice weather that it was a bit risky to go there, but I was in the mood for a long trip, to go far, to see new things, and yet didn't have time to get to Tumbo.

So we struck out for Sucia. It was a motoring trip all the way there. We were going against a strong ebb so I took back channels and found eddies. We probably averaged a SOG of 4.5-5, which was not bad given the current. And it is such a gorgeous trip.

For people who have lived and traveled so much in the Western San Juans, it is quite novel to explore the Easter areas. Cypress is stunning, and Vendovi is a little gem. Lummi is staggering in the south, and then Orcas looms. It is certainly far more rugged, and even prettier, than the haunts around Shaw and San Juan. And Mt. Baker towers over so closely, you feel like you can touch the glaciers.
Lummi Island while heading toward Sucia

We went into Fossil Bay and had a fantastic evening. It is 21 miles to Sucia from Anacortes, and it took us about 5 hours or so. Once we had grabbed a ball, we took the walk over to Echo Bay and enjoyed some fantastic time sunning on the beach and playing around.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Cypress Island trip in February was wonderful

Back in February we took our first trip to Cypress Island. It is wonderfully close to Anacortes. And unlike every other place we have gone, I have chosen not to describe this island and it's many wonderful attributes. It is a fairly wild place. Large and rugged. One can experience some wilderness there, despite it having all been logged before. So my only reason for posting this here is to say that Cypress Island is well worth your exploration!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Stormy MLK weekend at Stuart Island-Mantus never budges

The forecasts were calling for gale winds on the weekend but with closer study you could see that they weren't expected to hit until Saturday night and be done by Sunday night. Perfect for a three day escape to the hurricane hole anchorage of Reid Harbor on Stuart Island.
On our way

We had wanted to go to Tumbo, as followers of this blog know how much we love that spot, but the anchorage there is too exposed to the N and NW to risk an imprecise gale forecast.

Plus, it had been a few months since we had been at Stuart and we all felt the need to return. As usual, people stayed away by the millions! I've been in Reid Harbor in July and counted over 100 boats. Plus an additional 50+ in Prevost Harbor on the other side. But if you go between October and about May, you will likely have it to yourself, or close enough to not matter.

The voyage from Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes to Stuart is really scenic, and diverse. Last time we saw the baby Orca before it was even in the news! This was our second trip of this sort since moving Aeolus to Anacortes from Friday Harbor. It has felt like a great choice. You cross Rosario Strait on the way and this body of water can be quite rough in a strong NW or SE blow. I've crossed it on the ferry when there was about 35 knots SE and I'd say the waves were 4-5 feet. No safety concern for a Gulf 32 but unpleasant.