Sucia Island, better than before

With the windlass project finally finished we were feeling anxious to go farther afield than Jones Island and Stuart, favorites though they are, and decided to give Sucia another try. We had last been there in July of 2007, soon after we had moved to San Juan Island and found it crowded, trashy and not remotely a wild experience. This time, with it being March, we hoped for a more favorable impression of a place that at least geographically speaking has much to offer.

We were not disappointed.

Elliott in a happy place

We left Friday Harbor early on Saturday and raised sail for some exciting tacks in San Juan Channel before furling up and motoring up around Orcas to Sucia. We were against a strong north wind and an ebb and so our SOG averaged in the neighborhood of 4 knots. Pretty dreadful. Beautiful though, and 4.5 hours later we arrived at Fossil Bay for the night. We had thought we would anchor since I was anxious to use my new system, but the anchoring spot in Fossil Bay is quite far from the dinghy dock and so we decided to pony up the buoy fee and stay closer.

Finished windlass project! Lofrans Tigres can now roar better.

Wow, that was pretty epic. I've never before wrestled with fiberglass as I had to do with this project and let me tell you my little Dremel tool saved the day. I had to enlarge the holes for the chain pipe rather substantially and this required work on both the deck (fairly straightforward) and the bulkhead (not at all straightforward). In the end, I won. Through endurance we prevail, like Shackleton said.

Now the windlass mount and system is better than ever. Among the list of improvements:

1. Drained and changed oil in windlass case
2. Removed windlass and cleaned out minor rot in bolt holes, expanded holes, filled with epoxy, and redrilled holes for new bolts. 
3. Replaced old small diameter schedule 40 pipe with new 3" diameter schedule 80 pipe. This will forever prevent any binding of the chain inside the pipe, as used to happen. 
4. Improved connection of power cables to windlass with proper sealing. 
5. Added a 1/4" backing plate under windlass itself, in addition to the one under the deck, so that the windlass itself is not applying torque to the deck but rather is attached firmly to a solid sandwich of plates and decking. This also provided me the opportunity to protect the entrance to the chain pipe with the opening in the plate so that the chain does not abrade on the pipe opening as used to happen. 

Here are some explanatory photos to tell the story. I'm so happy to have done this and can't wait to be out anchoring again!

The new pipe before being cut. The other hole routes the power cables

President's Day getaway: Jones and Stuart adventures

For the three day weekend we escaped to our two favorite San Juan Islands spots yet again and enjoyed some adventures. On our way up north I asked Amy what she was looking forward to and she responded "Something unexpected". It seems every time we go to these very familiar places we still have wonderfully unexpected experiences. And this time was no different.

Elliott on Stuart displaying his Moss hat!

The weather was cold and gray, and yet the two heaters aboard Aeolus kept the cabin at a steady 65 to 72. Quite comfortable really, given the ambient temperature of 38. For that matter, Aeolus is often warmer than our own house!

We went to Jones first and grabbed the buoy on the south side because there was a rare forecast for north winds. The ongoing windlass project required us to go only to places where we could grab buoys or tie to docks because the anchor is out of commission until the windlass is reinstalled. It was fine because we might have only gone to Jones and Stuart anyway with the South Pender Canadian Customs dock closed for the winter. You otherwise have to go to Sidney, which is convenient to Portland Island, but not the eastern Gulf Islands. Our next BC trip will almost certainly be to take Amy to Tumbo Island as my trip there with the boys last year was so magical and she has yet to see it.