Another 5 Days in the SGI...

My 2nd course for the month of June would bring 3 students - Iris, Jesse and Alan - onto KalaKala for a 5 day Competent Crew cruise through the SGI. KalaKala is a 33 foot Beneteau that I have chartered before a few years ago with my family so it was like revisiting with an old friend.

Day 0 - Travel Day - Toronto to Nanaimo

The trip out to the West Coast was pretty routine. Had only to put up with a layover in Vancouver - the norm when flying on Aeroplan points. Had to call Lorraine about the pickup as I had neglected to let her know about the flight time change and later arrival than they were aware of.

KalaKala had been a priority to get ready for the charter base team due to my arrival day of 1 night before the Cruise and Learn course. Of course all was good as it is a very efficient team.

The View From KalaKala

Got charts, guides, docs and instruments all sorted out and onto the boat.

Chilled out for the evening with some fish and chips from the pub brought back onto the boat. Stayed up as long as I could in order to get in sync with West Coast time.

Looking over to where Belle Serena was docked, I had a chuckle when I remembered what I told Ian what I thought the following image was...a seat for his hemmoroids...

A Whoopee Cushion Or For Hemmoroids?

Day 1 - Pre-board (Nanaimo)

Had a pretty good sleep for the night. Got up pretty early and went in the courtesy car to a Tim Horton's for coffee and breakfast - then a shower.

Mid morning the NYC team came to lift the boat out from the previous charter - it is amazing to see a 10,000 lb boat hanging in the air. All was good and just a bit of new zinc was added to the prop shaft.

I also spent the morning watching some of the comings and goings of boats into and out of the docks as the wind was up out of the north - and gave the drivers some challenges.

The provisions arrived mid afternoon which I put away. It is helpful to do that so that one knows where and what everything is. Later on I was to see the menu for the 5 days and it showed Halibut - but there was no Halibut that I put away.

Mid afternoon all the students arrived and we had a bit of a briefing session on the boat, going through the plans and expectations of the course. Crew assignments were arrived at

As usual when heading south to the SGI, we had to determine slack at Dodd Narrows in order to identify our start time. Plans were agreed to on destinations and people broke up for dinner and other things.

Day 2 (1) - Nanaimo to Clam Bay - 21.8 nm

After an easy and light breakfast - safety and boat briefing was held, boat checklist, discussion on navigation and an overview on how to leave the dock got us ready to go. As opposed to the earlier challenge of leaving the dock - we would have it much easier as we were on the south side of the marina and would let the wind blow us off.

The plan was executed flawlessly with Alan at the helm and we were underway. Iris had worked out the pilotage plan through the harbour channel and also all of the course work through to Clam Bay.

Northumberland Strait was a bit lumpy but this would soon pass as we got further south into the Strait. We hit Dodd Narrows a bit before slack and had a bit of remaining ebb current as was the expectation. Once through we hoisted our sails for a bit of an upwind sail that ended up taking us towards Yellow Point. Towards mid afternoon in nice sunshine the winds started to die down and we dropped the sails and motored towards the ship graveyard in Trincomali Channel and on into Clam Bay.

An Interesting Sailboat

There were a few boats on the south side but our plan was to anchor on the north side given the forecast for the night. There were a couple of boats already there including Baraka Too. Later, another NYC boat, Skookumchuck would arrive nearby further cramping our style.

It was a very pleasant evening and soon a dinner of burgers were grilled up by Jesse with help from Iris.

Will Iris and Jesse Return Under Power or By Rowing?

It had been a full day and it was soon to bed for all.

Day 3 (2) - Clam Bay to Ganges - 21.3nm

Today was Thursday and we felt that we would have better luck in getting a berth at the Kanaka Wharf public dock before the holiday long weekend. Winds were light and it was a bright sunny day.

The Navigation Team on the Job

After a filling Canadian old fashioned breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs and toast served up by me as cook for the day it was to head further south into Trincomali Channel past Wallace Island and around Nose Point on Saltspring Island. Once around the corner we picked up some nice winds and decided to head further south in Captain Passage before heading in.

Some nice tacking back and forth before a bit of downwind sailing with some gybes to get under our belts and we were off to try our luck at Kanaka.

Once into the harbour, I could see no free berths so it was a change of plan to call up Ganges Marina on the VHF. They reopted back with a slip number and docking instructions - they would also have someone on the dock to take a line.

It was an easy docking - nice and slow. The shore power cable was too short to reach the pedestal so another one was borrowed to reach the connection. It was beer o'clock time, with snacks.

Ganges Marina

Dinner was chicken thighs, baked potatoes and mixed vegetables. The potatoes took forever so it ended up being a late dinner. Rumours had fireworks for the evening but everyone ended up going to bed early after another fun but tiring day on the water.

Later on while exploring the Marina, I would find NYC boat Serenity tied up near the Marina office. They are everywhere!

Tomorrow we would be off to Portland Island with an anchorage in Princess Bay.

Day 4 (3) - Ganges to Princess Bay (Portland Island) - 16.6 nm

We topped up the water tanks and with a light sail up Captain Passage, took us across to Satellite Channel where a bit more wind allowed us to tack to Moresby Island before tacking back behind a BC Ferry towards Portland.

Looking South From Russell Island Towards North Pender

There weren't too many boats in the cove - got a nice spot with a great view towards Boundary Pass and beyond. Iris and Jesse braved the dinghy and went ashore for a hike to Kanaka Bluff.

Princess Bay on Portland Island

After dinner I noticed that the freshwater pump was running a long time. I had also noticed that the shower faucet at the stern was running a bit. All of this led me to believe that as no water was flowing from the tap that we had lost prime on the pump. After running the pump for a while with no flow in water, I contacted Ian to help resolve. The answer was to go into a marina to fill the water tank and regain prime on the pump. Could we have run out of water in the tank?

So with no water, bottled water was used to brush teeth instead.

My thinking was to go to Genoa Bay, which was enroute to Telegraph Harbour - to fill up the water tanks and regain prime.

On getting into bed it was obvious that the weather had not tunred yet to the north. Princess Bay had no protection and full exposure to anything from the south. Well, as it happended, it was a lumpy night for everyone with a lot of rocking and slapping of water on the boat. Everyone, except Alan it seemed, had a very fitful night with little sleep. Everyone in the cove probably had the same result. It would be my first poor anchorage ever - due to weather conditions.

Day 5 (4) - Princess Bay to Telegraph Harbour - 29.6 nm

After a terrible night of sleep, we would be off to Genoa Bay for water. It was an easy motor as Alan took us into the dock.

What we missed hitting along the way was a big nasty and ugly looking deadhead that was floating vertically with just 6 inches being exposed above the water. Best to keep a sharp lookout at all times in these waters.

We had a welcome committee on the dock but it was another boat that they were expecting.

Leaving the Lumpy Waters of the Princess Bay Anchorage

We told them that we were only there for a short while and would be on our way. After filling the water tank - which seemed to take a long time - I also got some bottled water for the remaining days. Once underway, I ran the water pump and before long, it spewed water. So I guess we had really run out of water or the tank had not really been filled up the day before in Ganges. Anyway we were back in business on the water front.

KalaKala at Genoa Bay

Once back on the water our next order of business was to get through Sansum Narrows and then on to Stuart Channel. Currents aren't very much through the Narrows, in fact Ports and Passes used to have a current table for it - but no longer. The flow isn't enough to be a problem.

The original plan was to go to Sibell Bay in Ladysmith Harbour but I thought that given the weather and the holiday weekend - we would have better access and protection in Telegraph Harbour. The plan would be to find a spot to drop the anchor once there.

We did a bit of sailing in Stuart Channel until the wind dropped so then we motored the rest of the way in. In the harbour there were a lot of mooring buoys with a few boats. Some of the boats looked unused and appeared derelict for some time. It didn't leave a lot of room to anchor. We motored up and down the harbour looking for a spot between mooring buoys and marinas - looking for a spot that would be out of the way of the channel. Eventually we tried a spot at the south end just past Thetis Island Marina on the west side. After dropping the anchor, it was felt to be a little close, what with swing room, to a nearby mooring buoyed boat. Thinking about that, the rough night that we had the night before - it became an easy and quick decision to radio call Thetis Island Marina for a spot on the dock.

Thetis Island Marina

After confirming a spot at the marina - Jesse motored us in, I have been saying all along to dock hands wanting to take one of our lines that we are a training vessel and that we can do it on our own. Once tied up and shore power connected we just hung out with some going to explore the pub and other facilities.

Dinner came and went, we feared that Canada Day revelers would keep us awake but that didn't happen. Did I tell you that negotiations had occurred on crew jobs? Alan wasn't into cooking so he traded off cooking for cleaning with Iris. It seemed as if Iris was always cooking and Alan was always cleaning up.

Day 6 (5) - Telegraph Harbour to Nanaimo - 24.5 nm

After a nice breakfast with a targeted departure of 0930 in order to get the slack at Dodd Narrows, but first Alan would need to take us out of the narrowly spaced docks. Everyone came out of their boats to watch - or to help as they would say. Alan did a great job as no help was needed.

A Tight Squeeze to Leave?

We did a number of crew overboard recoveries under power and sail while en route. After a bit, more wind came up and we did some nice sailing up towards the Narrows. As we got closer to Dodd Narrows we saw that Baraka Too was coming up on our stern. I checked my binoculars and saw that Beth and team were on board - checking us out again possibly?

Going through on the remaining hour of an Ebb was a non event. We noticed that Baraka Too was hanging back a bit - waiting until slack I bet.

The Queue Through Dodd Narrows

Mudge Island Houses at Dodd Narrows

Once through we spent a bit of time on serious lookout for floating logs in Northumberland Strait - there were a lot of them! In fact we thought that we had hit one but weren't sure as nothing was seen before or after the thunk. It could have been an odd wave hitting the boat. When the boat was lifted next day, it would get the all clear on inspection.

We made for the fuel dock with Jesse driving and the plan was to leave enough room for Baraka Too who was now trailing us closely so that they could refuel as well. The plan changed when a motor launch decided to pull up right in the middle of the dock. We pulled in tight in front of them, leaving Baraka Too to wait till the motor launch had left.

After refueling Iris would take us into our slip - a bit tricky with a tight final turn in - but there was little wind and taking it nice and slow would be the order of the day for a successful docking. Iris drove the boat while standing behind the wheel and did a great job what with 3 NYC folks to receive us including Ian as spectators. Iris wasn't at all nervous (sic).

After docking, it was time for a final lunch, logbooks, packing and getting ready to get back to our non-sailing lives.

The GPS Track

I spent the rest of the day tidying up, packing my own things and completing my logbook and fault sheet. There wasn't much to report as all NYC boats are always kept in top condition.

I checked in for my flight, caught up on news and emails and was ready for a good sleep and the next days travels.

Day 7 - Travel Day - Nanaimo to Toronto

It would end up being a day where I went to the airport twice. Once to deliver Alan and pick up Andre, and then to get Andre to drop me off later in the day.

I also had to make a trip to the health food store in the plaza to get some Denman Island chocolate for the folks back home.

There were a few delays on both flights and I would not get into Toronto until about 2:30 am. I ended up not being able to get to sleep which worked out pretty well in that it got me into the local time zone really quickly with no jet lag effects.

Can't wait for the next trip out to Nanaimo currently schedule for September.