B G – Page 2 – S/V Kinetics

Cortes Bay to Octopus Islands

After waiting out the front that rolled through BC on Sunday I departed Pender Harbor early Monday morning for the long run up the rest of the Georgia Strait to overnight in Cortes Bay on Cortes Island. The day started out sunny and nice leaving Pender Harbor.

Despite the repeated warning for waterspouts I saw nothing but overcast skies and light winds in the Strait. I made a stop in Westview Harbor to top off the fuel tank. Surprisingly tight little marina! Especially at low tide.

The young woman manning the fuel dock was fantastic at helping me get tied up and departing in the tight space. Her recommended pivot and turn made my departure quick and easy. Thank you!

The views on the way up were typical BC.

After an uneventful night in Cortes Bay I woke up to light rain. I retrieved the anchor without ramming the big powerboat the anchored too close last night and headed out right on time. I had carefully calculated my route to catch the slack at Beasley Passage and Surge Narrows off Quadra Island around 11:15am. It was nice having the new radar on board as visibility was not great in the rain and mist.

I had to slow way down as I approached Beasley Passage. The ebb tidal flow was pushing me most of the way there. Better early to these things than late. I was the only boat going north. I met a handful of boats going south, one of which I shared the pass with. Both the pass and the Narrows were smooth and presented no problems. Having the ebb tide with me I made quick time up the entrance to the Octopus Islands Marine Park where I expect to stay for several days. It’s very nice here and not crowded so far. I’ll wait for my chance to head north up Johnstone Strait in calm weather. For now, more rain then some sunny days with views like these.

Sailing on to Canada!

This post covers a lot of hops since Sucia Island in the US. I just didn’t have the motivation to do one sooner. I’m now in John Henry’s Marina, Pender Harbor, Canada on a beautiful Saturday morning. While there is supposed to be rain and wind on the way, today is going to be warm and nice. I was happy to get a slip here in the marina after finding all the anchorages packed with only tight, sketchy spots left to drop the hook in.

Being here also allows me to take advantage of a washer and dryer for my month of laundry, get rid of some trash and to simply be able to get off the boat and walk. They have a nice restaurant, store, and fuel here as well. Docks are brand new.

Between Sucia Island and Pender Harbor I made a few stops. I made my way over to Stuart Island’s Reid Harbor before heading over the border. I like this island but it was a bit crowed so I anchored way out. That left me in the zone of constant power boat wakes. I stayed a few days and managed to hike up to the School House where I restocked on my favorite tee shirts and met the woman who, along with her husband, makes them. Boundary Pass Traders.

From here it is a short hop over the South Pender Island to check into Canada where I met a couple on their way up from Edmonds in a power boat. After a lot of questions from the local border officer it was off to Ganges Harbor on Salt Spring Island for the usual grocery provisions and a visit to the Farmer’s Market and bookstore in town. Ganges Harbor is too busy, noisy and often too windy for me so I headed out after just two nights for Clam Bay on Thetis Island.

Clam Bay is generally a quite place to hang out for a few days before heading to Nanaimo or further north. I took the dinghy through a cut in the island over to Telegraph Harbor and had my first ice cream cone in a very long time.

Looking at the weather for the Georgia Strait, Friday was going to be the only day with guaranteed good weather for a crossing so it was up a 6am and off to Pender Harbor. I snapped this photo of Texada Island on the crossing. It is a very imposing landmark in the middle of the Strait.

I’ll be heading north again on Monday unless the weather makes it impossible. Next stop will be somewhere near Cortes Island most likely.

Bellingham to Sucia Island

August 3rd 2024

After a bit of deliberation I departed Blind Bay on Friday, July 26th around 6am to catch a favorable tide over to Bellingham for a visit with friends that live there. It’s been a few years since I visited and it was by car not boat. I have never visited Bellingham with the boat and never had the time until this year. Calling up Squalicum Harbor from a mile out I was able to secure guest moorage for a couple of nights.

I had a very nice weekend visiting my friends in Bellingham who graciously shuttled me around and had me to their house overlooking Chukanut Bay for dinner. It was great catching up and watching some Olympics. They have a very nice Farmers Market there on Saturday.

Sunday morning I left for Sucia Island. I was able sail part of the way under full jib. I arrived to an uncrowded Echo Bay which is what I expected on a Sunday afternoon. I spent a quiet first half of the week in the rain. The sun returned on Thursday and the crowds started rolling in.

I practiced rowing in the new Spindrift dinghy. I need more practice and some better oars are now on the list for next year. But mostly my technique is poor. Friday I took the SUP to shore and went for a nice hike. Lost my sunglasses on the trail but another hiker found them after I mentioned my loss and saved my trip. I’m not sure how I would have gotten by without my prescription sunglasses for two more months.

I’ve been able to work a few hours as planned, which included a few meetings. Starlink is working but the service does not tolerate the rotation the boat, which it does at anchor. The connection drops anytime the boat rotates more than 30 degrees or so. I have to get up and move the dish but sometimes it is a waste of time if the boat is doing a dance in the wind or current. I expected this might be a problem but it’s a bit more of one than I had hoped. A truly first world problem.

Blind Bay at Last

July 24th 2024

It took a few days longer than expected but I finally made it to the San Juan Islands. Specifically to Blind Bay, Shaw Island. My first attempt on Sunday morning was a mistake. I got my butt kicked in the Straight of Juan de Fuca where the waves were steep and fast. I wasn’t really expecting the conditions I found myself in and stuff was flying everywhere down below. After an hour of bashing into the waves I decided to turn around and try another day.

I sailed back under jib and planned to spend a couple days waiting for calmer conditions down in Port Hadlock instead of retreating back to Boat Haven marina in Port Townsend. When the breeze died off I discovered my jib furler had come apart so I had to drop the headsail on deck and added that to my list of things to deal with at anchor. I was having one of those days where a boat owner wonders why you do this. You start thinking about how it might be nice to just be sitting on shore somewhere with nothing to fix. This trip was not getting off to a great start, a familiar feeling.

I spent an hour trying to find a good spot to anchor in Port Hadlock. I eventually settled on one which was not really very good. Holding was poor but the boat didn’t drag too far. I did end up a bit close to some boats on moorings. I won’t anchor in this spot should I return here. It’s a challenging place to anchor as it’s deep and all the shallow areas have mooring balls in them. Here’s a pic of my morning shoreline view.

On Tuesday I finally got a break in the weather that let me get across the Strait. It was a sunny day, the seas were nearly flat and the winds were 10-12 knots. I was able to sail more than half way across on a beam reach.

The tides and current were with me most of the way. I sailed through Cattle Pass, between San Juan and Lopez, on the full flood tide, for a nice fast ride of over 10 knots. The breeze faded and it was back to motoring for the rest of trip to Blind Bay.

Eagle Harbor to Port Townsend | Alternator Trouble and Friends

July 20th 2024

After a couple of nice days in Eagle Harbor visiting friends and picking up a few last minute items (and a couple unexpected gems) from The Chandlery at Winslow Wharf I headed north to Port Townsend on another nice warm day. On the trip north up Puget Sound I crossed paths with the Adventuress under full sail crossing from Shilshole west bound on an easy beam reach under a light breeze.

In an annoying repeat from a previous trip north my alternator has failed. There were signs on the way over to Bainbridge Island but I thought it was just a bad volt meter. This is all too familiar because this same failure happened the trip before last to Canada. However, I am on my way to visit the same friends that helped save that other vacation a few years back by fixing the alternator. So I’ve been tied up in Port Townsend for a few days but after help from these generous friends I should be back on track. I like it here is PT. Might be a nice place to retire.

Update on the alternator (7/24): So far the new to me alternator has been performing well. The Balmer regulator was programmed down to 50% as this alternator is far more than is needed for the battery bank and I also wanted to reduce the strain on my water pump. Excellent advice from my friend Dan!

Sail Kinetics Summer Update: New Mainsail, Starlink Connection, and Radar Ready

July 13th 2024

Getting very close to heading out for 2 plus months of cruising this Summer. New mainsail from Ballard Sails on the boat; lots of food; Starlink to stay connected (have to work a bit); lots of maintenance done; I think I found a place for all the newish dinghy bits; new radar installed; I’m as ready as I can be.

I’ll attempt to post updates along the way and pictures of course. More pictures than words I think. I suspect anchorages are going to be crowded for a few more weeks. Hopefully there will be room for one more.

Spindrift Dinghy handling

After 10 years plus of using an inflatable dinghy the switch to a hard dinghy has meant a few adjustments to how I store it, stow it, and manage it under way. The Spindrift 10 is a fun combination of row boat, sailing dinghy, and outboard tender. Mine is a nesting version so it can be taken apart, flipped upside down, and nested together making it a small package that fits neatly on the foredeck.

I’ve now rowed it, sailed it and motored with it using the Torqeedo 3hp OB. So far, so good. I expected it to be different than the inflatable and it is. Getting in and out requires more care. It is not as forgiving of mishandling as my former a big rubber tubes of a dinghy, so driving it into the side of the mother ship is a bad idea. It will also get banged up when it goes to battle with an ugly dock. All expected. The reward is a dinghy that I can row and actually get someplace in. I can have fun with it as a sailboat! And, when needed, it moves along well with the little electric outboard.

Using the outboard on the Spindrift also highlighted the other big difference. Weight distribution matters. Moving to the center requires a tiller extension (I found one on Amazon that works). I get noticeably better performance from the OB doing that. With two people in the dinghy the extension wouldn’t be needed. The same challenge with weight distribution happens when rowing with a passenger . Whether the passenger is sitting in the bow or the stern, the balance of the dinghy is not ideal. We didn’t try two person rowing (side by side). That seemed like a friendship killer but it might work. If you have stuff to carry it could be used to balance the load.

The next big change was getting it on and off the mothership when towing is not prudent. The inflatable was always hoisted up by the towing bridle, bow first, and lowered onto the foredeck. This method is not really a good option with the Spindrift 10. The transom submerges and after lowering there is a good gallon or two of water to bail out. I also don’t like the idea of the hard dinghy swinging around in the wind which the inflatable often did. So I think the best option is to hoist it horizontally.

Spindrift 10 with hoisting rig alongside sailboat ready for bring aboard

With some gunnel protection (trying out some jumbo pool noodles) installed and a Dynema hoisting rig the Spindrift comes up and over the lifelines and onto the deck with just a little persuasion. I can set it down there and undo the 5 fasteners holding the two halves together. The halves are light enough (guessing 40-50lbs each half) to easily flip, stack, then tie them down. The oars, three piece mast, boom, dagger board and rudder also need to get put away.

If you want to watch a great YT video of a cruising couple, Sailing Yacht Florence, with a Spindrift 9 here is the link. I should thank them for this as it was very helpful in my deciding to buy this dinghy from the person that originally built this one. Here is a link to their WP page on the same.

Canada again and a dinghy change up

I’ve been ignoring this blog so here is a brief update for Spring of 2023. I made it to Canada last year. Explored parts of Desolation Sound for the first time over a three week cruise. Visited a few familiar places on the way up and some new ones as well. I typically avoid marinas but anchoring out in some locations proved difficult and it was easy to find dock space in early September. With solar power and a water maker I don’t really need to tie up but it is nice once in a while to not deal with anchoring.

I dragged anchor for the first time on a particularly windy night off Lopez Island. Completely due to my being rusty with calculating scope. Re-anchoring in 25-35 knots single handed in a dark, crowded anchorage, produced some adrenaline. The next day I realized my mistake determining water depth with a the depth sounder set to keel depth not waterline. I also decided that if someone anchors too close astern, removing the option of letting out more chain, it’s best to move before the weather deteriorates and the light fades.

The trip was nice overall and I enjoyed having a new paddleboard along to explore and get a little exercise. I tried stern tying for the first time, single handed, and found it doable in the right location and conditions.

One element I missed (again) in this type of cruising was the lack of sailing opportunities. There is often not enough wind, wrong direction, or the legs are too short. Consequently 75% of my miles were under power and some of them were towing an inflatable dinghy. The soft bottom dinghy design is very draggy so even in flat conditions, towing it results in reduced cruising speeds. Over a long day it adds up. They also perform poorly in other ways too. I use a 3HP electric OB or row it. The former is just okay and the latter is terrible.

So earlier this year the old inflatable went to a new home and I went in search of something else. I decided to try a hard dinghy. Ideally one that could be rowed, had a sail rig to play with when the big boat was at anchor, towed well and was driven easily with the small electric OB. I was told by friends to not go with anything smaller than 10ft for lots of obvious reasons. However, I don’t have davits on Kinetics so a 10ft dinghy has to be light weight and not cover the entire foredeck. The solution seems to be a nesting hard dinghy and those are mostly kit built.

Late in 2022 I found a Spindrift 10 for sale and grabbed it. Unbolts into two halves that nest making it a compact, an easy to store, 5ft x 4ft-2in package on the foredeck. I found a YT video of a cruising couple with a Spindrift 9 and they seem to love it. It sails fairly well but I haven’t had much time to use it yet. Same for rowing. Still need to try out the outboard on it. There are a few things I want to customize to make it easy to manage as the new tender for Kinetics but it should be fun figuring it all out. Below is a friend taking it for a maiden sail.

2021 a year of change

With the world gripped in a second year of a pandemic there was no escaping the changes to daily life this rained down on everyone in 2021. I’m fortunate in many ways that I only have first world problems to manage. I did very little sailing in 2021 mostly because there wasn’t anywhere I could go; that I wanted to go might be more accurate.

I decided that with borders closed and local cruising grounds often overrun by boaters with limited options, 2021 was a good time to finally tackle a long overdue refit of the mast. It turned out that I was not alone.

This mast project turned out to be the most difficult and problematic one I’ve done yet. What went wrong? Almost everything. It’s hard to relive it by retelling. From contributing to a failed personal relationship, to thousands in extra costs because of pandemic supplier delays, bad weather, rushed work, competing mast projects, a back injury, and more, this one is now #1 on my list of Murphy’s What Can Go Wrong Will.

The mast is now finally back in the boat but not without a fair amount of pain and suffering (of the first world kind). While the rigging was being stripped off the mast to allow it to be painted we discovered a few issues that needed attention. This lead to my deciding to replace the standing rigging to fix the issues and get onto the newest version of the rod fittings. Unfortunately this resulted in an unforeseen 8 week delay waiting for parts to come from Europe. Add $2,000 for mast storage to the yard bill. The company I hired to paint the mast had quality control issues and mast had to be painted twice. By now La Nina is in full swing and the weather is just plain awful but my boat got its Christmas present. I started the project in September thinking it would take two weeks. Ha.

It will be another month or two into 2022 before the rest of the rigging can be completed as the weather is still awful. However, the mast looks great and is corrosion free and should out live me. The masthead has been redone with a new light, repositioned wind sensor and remounted VHF antenna. There is all new wiring and a spiffy new combo steaming light and deck light combo. The boom also got a lot of attention with a focus on a reworked gooseneck. Overall, things are looking good and like all projects gone bad, they don’t look quite so bad once you get it all buttoned up. Maybe 2022 will be a bit nicer for everyone.

Port Ludlow 2020

Fortunately boating/cruising is one of the things we can safely do in the year of COVID-19. This is actually our second trip of the summer. We spent the 4th of July watching homeowner fireworks in Liberty Bay near Poulsbo, WA. It was a good first outing of the year. Because the Canadian boarder is closed, and likely to remain so for the cruising season, we’re going to keep it local this year. The trip to Port Ludlow in early August was a great 3 day weekend. We anchored out away from the cluster of other boats, only moving in closer on Monday after most everyone cleared out. We dinghy’d in to take advantage of the abundant number of walking trails in and around the harbor. Everyone was good about wearing masks and we “masked up” whenever we met someone on a trail. This is a popular stop of cruisers for a reason. Just far enough away from Seattle to feel rural and it offers lots of quiet on shore hiking, kayaking around the harbor in protected waters and a fuel dock if you need to top off. Need to take more pics next time.

There were more powerboats than sail here this weekend

Looking towards the marina from across the harbor

A short pan of the back of the harbor. May video skills need work!