Desolation Sound 2012: 8/4-8/18, 500 miles of adventure

We have been back home for one week since the completion of our 2012 travels up in BC and the warm glow has yet to wear off. Even my friends on the bus and at work have commented that I look so relaxed I must have just been on vacation! My previous post explained how I took Aeolus north to Quadra Island so that we did not have to spend vacation days journeying north (having done that many times).  Instead, we began our 14 day cruise with a drive to Campbell River and the ferry over to Quadra to find Aeolus happily waiting for us in Quathiaski Cove.

Start of trip at home in our custom "Aeolus" shirts

I never have the patience to have these blog posts convey all the great stories of each day and place, but I am always happy to answer questions if anyone sends me a message. I will organize this post by calendar day, to provide some flow.

Our good friends the Jones family were buddy boating with us aboard the Freedom 33 "Ocean Gypsy" for most of this trip. Their son is best friends with Elliott and we had a grand time weaving in and out of our times together as the days and anchorages passed by. 

August 4th: Quathiaski Cove, Quadra Island through Seymour Narrows to Small Inlet on Quadra. 

This was a great first day. We left Qcove at 6:15 am to be at Seymour at the 7:23 slack. Weather was beautiful as it would remain for the entire time in BC. Our passage through Seymour was smooth, and the beginning of the ebb pulled us along at about 7-8 knots on occasion. From my experience fighting the full flood to get Aeolus up to Quadra, I know full well how unwise it would be to battle any part of this passage at anything other than a favorable or benign current.

Hull speed of 6.3 so this is pretty nice!

We had to motor all the way this day as there wasn't much wind and you can't play with the timing of these currents. Our approach to Small Inlet was lovely, and we found it basically empty. We remarked that if it was anywhere in Desolation Sound it would have been packed!

So what did we do once we got there at 10am? We went swimming of course! There is a trail from the head of Small Inlet to Newton Lake on Quadra. It is short, but steep toward the end, and the lake was just wonderful. This was our first lake swimming, or any outdoor swimming, of 2012, and I wait all year for the chance. The lake is just like all those we've seen up here, in being natural and having super warm water. We all swam to our hearts content and enjoyed it immensely.

Friday Harbor to Quadra Island: 3 days, 23 hours travel time, 140 miles

This past weekend I took Aeolus north to Quadra Island in preparation for our return there for two weeks in the Discovery Islands and Desolation Sound starting this coming weekend. It was a perfect solo voyage, with benign winds and helpful currents right up until Cape Mudge.

Sunsets over the Salish Sea

Here is how I moved along:

7/26  7pm departure Friday Harbor, 9pm arrival Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island.
7/27  6:50 am departure Prevost Harbor, arrival at Bedwell Harbor, South Pender Island, at 7:50. Departed Bedwell and 12:45 arrival Herring Bay, Ruxton Island to await slacker water at Dodd Narrows. 5:30 pm arrival at Taylor Bay, Gabriola Island. Winds to 20 knots SE pushing me along.
7/28  7:15 am departure from Taylor Bay. 3pm arrival in Henry Bay at the northern end of Denman Island. Winds to 10 knots SE.

This fool was trying to sail through Dodd Narrows, and was a hazard to all around.

7/29  6am departure Henry Bay. Raised 150' of chain by hand. Approached Cape Mudge at about 10:30 am with a building flood against me that peaked at 12 noon at 9 knots off the Cape.

Spencer Spit, Lopez Island weekend-Prepping for trip north to Quadra

With Amy and the boys away on a Mom/Sons backpacking trip with a few of her girlfriends, there was nothing to be done except to escape up to the islands and join Aeolus for some sort of adventure. As much for a change of pace as for the beauty of the spot, I chose to head over to Spencer Spit. It would also allow me to go on a much longer run on scenic Lopez roads as I am training for the Bellingham marathon these days.

The trip from Friday Harbor takes about 80 minutes, more or less. Saturday was gorgeous and warm, and I joined about 30 other boats anchored on the northern side of the spit. Before getting there however, I was able to raise sail in that amazing inland sea and feel the joy of wind on sails. That particular area bounded by Orcas, Lopez, Shaw and Blakely, is the single largest body of water within the San Juan Islands and to me it resembles a large lake. A lake of saltwater. And it happens to have the most consistent winds as you can always expect a breeze going up or down Eastsound.

Close reaching toward Blakely

I rigged my jacklines before leaving the slip in Friday Harbor and raised sail once I rounded Upright Head on Lopez. The wind was only 10-15 knots, but enough for Aeolus to lean over and get into a nice groove. Ahhh, what a feeling.

Desolation Sound trip Summer 2011

It is so unlike me not to post about a trip once it is completed, but somehow or another, until now I have not posted about our trip to Desolation Sound last summer. It was a continuation of the trip north with Bill and Banning for the boys and I, and a new trip for Amy and our friends the Justis family. Cleve, Rachael, Galen and Daniel came up from the Bay Area and joined us for a week in paradise. They are our dearest friends, from forever ago, and the times we shared only reinforced how well suited we are to hang out as often as we can.

At Refuge Cove for a quick stop

Lanonlin on prop really works!

I last hauled Aeolus in spring 2011, and at that time I cleaned off the prop really well and got her down to shiny bronze. I then tried something I had heard about and applied a generous amount of lanolin on her and hoped for the best. In prior years I have developed hard growth on the prop within months of putting her back in the water, and even a slow poke like me hates the inefficiency of turbulent flow on his prop caused by barnacles and algae.

Well, I dove on Aeolus this weekend to inspect the prop, expecting to find a lot of growth since it has been over a year, and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a really clean prop and only one place with a barnacle! I spun the prop around and around and couldn't believe it. I took my scraper and scraped a place and it was clear there was still lanolin on the prop because of the way it changed color and was waxy when I scraped it.

I've read about people buying and using fancy prop paints and hoping for good results, and I don't know if lanolin will work on the east coast or in the tropics, but let me tell you for certain that anywhere here on the west coast I have seen that it works wonders, and since I haul every two years to bottom paint anyway, I think I have found my permanent solution to prop fouling!

Yippee and cheap, cheap, cheap!

Stuart Island Summers

Got away this weekend for a trip to Stuart Island and was shocked to remember that it is actually a very popular place in the summer time. Throughout the year we journey to Stuart for wild solitude, and find it empty of people and full of beauty from October to May. But on this trip, I turned the corner into Reid Harbor to discover that the entirety of the harbor was filled with boats, from one end to the other. Reid is large enough to handle an armada, but it was nevertheless quite a sight to see. My rough count totaled over 100 boats! Later that night, I wondered across the isthmus and counted 50 boats in Prevost without being able to see the entire harbor. So between the two, there were over 150 boats visiting Stuart this weekend! My gosh.

Although we love the quiet of the place the rest of the year, there is something appropriate and festive about all the people in summer. On my walk out to the lighthouse I must have passed twenty people, and at Turn Point itself, there were several dozen.

It is worth noting that the historical museum at Turn Point is officially open and they have done a fantastic job of gathering photos and artifacts to tell the story. There is even a narrated video you can watch for free.

K&N Air filter for Universal 5432/M40 is RA0500

About four years ago I upgraded the air filter on Aeolus to a K&N model. The intake manifold opening is actually larger than the air opening on the stock air filter that came with the engine. So to improve air flow as well as accommodate the PCV system I installed, I switched to the K&N. Some time back I was asked by a follower of this blog which model K&N it was, and I've finally remembered to post it.

This model fits perfectly and does the job. Here is a link to the K&N site for this model:K&N RA0500